Forum A+P Vol.30

https://press.universitetipolis.edu.al/wp-content/themes/anemos/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 Kristiana Meco Kristiana Meco https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/df28f10e16aaffaea46ef42b2f178cf7d608dad331979e908ce413bb7d3992e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g November 9, 2026 November 11, 2026

Forum A+P Vol.30

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DOI: 10.37199/F400021000
SKU: 2227-7994

Call for Papers for Forum A+P Nr.30
Recurring Novelties

Architecture is never entirely new, nor is it ever simply a repetition of what came before. It emerges through a continuous process of reinterpretation, adaptation and transformation, where familiar forms, ideas, materials and spatial practices acquire new meanings in changing contexts.

A+P Forum 30 invites architects, urbanists, researchers, academics, artists, designers and students to explore the concept of “Reoccurring Novelties” through critical reflection, research and creative practice.

The theme investigates the paradox between recurrence and novelty: the ways in which architectural ideas, urban patterns, typologies and cultural references return, evolve and generate new possibilities. It questions whether innovation necessarily requires the invention of something entirely unprecedented, or whether the new can emerge through the reconsideration of existing conditions.

In this context, repetition is not understood as mere reproduction, but as a productive process capable of generating difference. What returns is never exactly the same; it is reshaped by time, context, technology, social conditions and collective memory.

Published: January 30, 2025
Publisher: Polis_press
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Forum A+P

Introduction from the Editors

LEDIAN BREGASI
POLIS University
SONIA JOJIC
POLIS University

As we examine the current trajectory of the architectural discipline, it is clear that we stand at an unprecedented inflection point
as artificial intelligence transitions from a speculative technological frontier into an active cognitive infrastructure. In introducing
this volume of FORUM A+P (Volume 30, January 2025), we articulate a profound shift in how designers conceptualize space,
agency, and materiality. Architecture, as we observe, is no longer merely assisted by digital drafting programs or Building Information Modeling protocols; rather, it is being fundamentally reshaped through an ongoing synthesis with non-human intelligence. Our editorial synthesis explores how generative computational workflows, machine learning algorithms, and advanced digital fabrication techniques converge to reframe design theory and practice. Far from replacing human authorship, we view artificial intelligence as a catalyst for expanding architectural imagination, optimizing environmental performance, and interrogating the socio-spatial complexities of contemporary urban environments. By situating technological innovation alongside material traditions and heritage preservation, we frame a holistic paradigm where technology serves as a bridge between theoretical inquiry and practical execution. At the core of our computational inquiry in this volume is the acknowledgment that artificial intelligence introduces novel forms of non-human agency into the design process. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), diffusion models, and advanced text-to-image synthesis engines operate beyond traditional linear problem-solving. These systems process vast datasets of historical precedence, structural typologies, and spatial configurations, extracting latent visual patterns and generating complex architectural iterations in seconds. Consequently, as we observe in contemporary practice, the creative workflow shifts from manual drafting to an iterative dialogue of prompt engineering, latent space navigation, and critical selection. This epistemological shift challenges historical definitions of authorship and aesthetic judgment. When machine learning algorithms synthesize stylistic attributes across centuries of built environments, the resulting imagery presents a speculative vernacular— an architecture that feels simultaneously familiar and unprecedented. We challenge designers to develop critical frameworks capable of evaluating these synthetic outputs, distinguishing superficial stylistic mimicry from deep structural and spatial intelligence. The interplay of human intuition and algorithmic synthesis thus establishes a new hybrid methodology for spatial ideation....