A consortium across TU Delft (Digital Technologies), Erasmus University, TANGRAM Architects, together with The ArchiTech Company and Grossman Architects have been awarded a ClickNL PPS project – PLAIA, a knowledge Platform for AI and the soft values of Architecture. During the project, the consortium will coordinate with a broader community of academics and professionals.
The project addresses the integration of both quantifiable criteria and qualitative values in Architecture, via AI. While quantitative metrics ensure efficiency and technical performance, soft values preserve the human dimension of design - connection, identity, and emotional experience. In recent decades, parametric design, simulations, and optimization established a performance-driven paradigm that AI further strengthens as predictive models for engineering performance become faster, more adaptable, and accurate. This direction is valuable but insufficient, as it neglects the human factor. Architecture shapes not only buildings but also social environments and must address soft values alongside efficiency. These determine how people experience spaces, for example whether people can orient themselves, feel connected, and feel a sense of belonging in their surroundings. Novel computational techniques provide an unprecedented opportunity to integrate the human factor in computational methods. New techniques such as sentiment analysis, knowledge graphs, and human-centered predictive models enable the systematic inclusion of subjective experiences and emotions in computational design models - laying the groundwork for a paradigm shift from techno-economic performance-oriented to human-centered design. This project aims to establish an interdisciplinary research platform (PLAIA) that integrates architectural, cognitive, social, economic, legal and technical expertise. It addresses the integration of soft values into the digital and computational design processes.
