A Brief History of AI in Architectural Design for Buildings Towards Sustainability

Since Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged in the 1950s, its adoptions in architectural design for buildings have led a technical evolution from computer aided design empiricism to datasets driven design decision-making paradigm underpinned by digital solutions that enable using Generative Design (GD) and other AI techniques in Building Information Modelling (BIM) pervasive design processes. The growth of computational architectural design practice via algorithmic optimization and processes automation for sustainability also follows the initiatives at the United Nations (UN) on Sustainable Development (SD) since the 1970s and on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since the 2010s. This chapter examines the track record of AI adoptions through literature review across four SD stages, including Pre-SD Stage (1960s–1970s), SD Formation Stage (1980s), SDG Formation Stage (1990s–2000s), and SDG Adoption Stage (2010s–2020s). While it’s an initiative to describe the history of adopting AI in architectural design for buildings towards sustainability, and the depth and width of AI applications in this subject area has been spurring across academic research, innovative development, and professional practice around the world, it is expected that the brief history presented in this chapter can inform further research and innovation in AI-aided architectural design for buildings with total sustainability.