(Generated by my prompt ChatGTP 4.0 Dall-E)
Transparency message: These are AI generated images. I am not trying to pass off creation of these images by any artistic feat I am just curating what my imagination has come up with the help of AI. You can vote for it or not that is up to you. I don't usually vote for all the AI generated written content on here because it is boring to read and very low effort.
Anyway now that I got that out of the way. Some time ago I mentioned that I was doing some AI training work. This caught the interest of a client of mine that I was looking at doing some web design for and she wanted some coaching in it and how it can be used to help her develop her business. She had me get the paid version of ChatGTP and I also did some more experimentation with Gemini and Claude. In this post I will share some of my misadventures in the land of image generation.
The picture at the top of the post is kind of a long standing inside joke. When I worked in an office in the US there was a joke that I probably had "leiflets" (A joking name for children which I did not actually have) all over the world and they will rise up on my command. One girl that I worked with envisioned them as an army riding skate boards and llamas. This is because I grew up on a llama farm and I rode a skateboard to work everyday. So I made a prompt and this is what it came up with and it is kind of perfect. It looks like the start of a movie or something.
Bamboo Architecture:
Next I explored bamboo Architecture on Gemini free version. I found it pretty good and interesting for a free version as most do not do image generation like ChatGTP Free and Claude Free. Google Gemini could not do the header image though as it said it was still working on its depiction of humans. I wanted a visual of a multi story bamboo house in the lush forest of Ghana.
I think it is safe to say I would be jazzed to live in any of those houses. I like this aspect of AI because through words you can try to bring out what is in your minds eye. I am not that great of an artist so this is a good way of day dreaming.
Permaculture and Homestead:
Next I explored my permaculture and homestead plan for 5 acres in the Volta region of Ghana. Below are from Google Gemini.
Some of these ones were a bit painting like. But of few ere very realistic and really allows you mind to wonder and visualize the future.
Take these above in contrast to a similar prompt in ChatGTP. I think this is also reflective of the ground work I put in with Gemini vs. ChatGTP for this prompt. In Gemini I put more work into developing a permaculture plan before I asked for the imagery. In ChatGTP I believe I went straight for the image in a new chat. The below image was generated by ChatGTP 4.0 Dall-E.
This is a lovely image but much more grand in scale compared to the others. I am sure sustainability and ground work played a role in this.
Earthbag and Bamboo Architecture
I have always been fascinated by earthbag architecture and Earthship architecture even before that. This is the process of building a house out of rice sack material filled with earth and then sealed with mud and lime or concrete. I have always dreamed of a house that consists of two earthbag round houses about 8 meters apart they are one or two stories tall with a flat roof. Bamboo then makes up the structure in between them and a large roof cover both of them and the flat rooftops which are open air. I used to have a picture of something similar but I can no longer find it. I fed chatGTP 4.0 and Dall-E some example pictures and a description. I got a lot of interesting things as I can show you below. Some of them defy gravity and most are not what I was looking for. I did get one or two that were pretty close that I will show at the end.
These were very oriental looking but not quite what I was looking for. Would make for a nice house if the eves of the roof provided more protection though.
Another one that was getting closer but the two structures were not really tied together by the bamboo structure betwen them, they also did not have the open air roof top covered by the one roof.
This came close but I did not like that the round houses came out as bubble shaped and there was no flat rooftop space on either of the round houses.
I love these feather shaped bamboo roofs and that is what I would like as one big roof covering the middle structure and flaring out to cover each of the flat rooftops. But once again the round houses came out bubble like here. Maybe this is what the model think that Earthbag houses look like. Still a neat structure but not quite there.
I found that the model can not really alter previous images generated. It is almost better to start with a fresh prompt than to ask it to make changes to the previous rendition. It is kind of like the luck of the draw. I can regenerate the same prompt multiple times and get wildly different results. I guess that is what makes it kind of fun but as for architecture rendering there still needs to be some work done.
This looks like a beutiful model but is entirely bamboo. The reason why I am interested in the earthbag lower floor and buildings is three fold.
Security- Earthbag houses are very secure from floods, earthquakes, land slides, and are quite literally bullet proof. There was one instance where a truck ran into one and the truck did not fare well at all but the earthbag house was completely fine. I think that Bamboo would be a little bit harder to make secure.
Thermal Density- Earthbag houses have thick earth walls, so they will stay very cool through the day and not heat up fast at all. The bamboo on top will be airy and great for sleeping at night.
Firm Foundation- The earthbag house will provide a very firm foundation to build the upper floors with bamboo.
Somehow this one got turned into one round house structure.
This is beautiful and simplistic and close to what I am looking for. The roof is not very practical though other than maybe a little bit of shade.
This is kind of a cool style and is a bit African looking but still not there.
This is cool and pretty close to what I am looking for but not exactly. I would be very happy to live in this house though. The main roof seems more decorative than functional though.
Also beautiful and cool and getting closer. I like the stairway between the structures and the thatched roofs. The upper roofs are too high above the structures though.
Very stylized and cool with a complete use of bamboo and thatch. The second roof is completely unnecessary here though.
I don't know how this house would even be livable with a completely open roof.
This was one of the first ones generated and very whimsicle.
This was kind of cool but not very practical from a construction standpoint with the large nonfunctional roof.
This was the best on that it came up with and my favorite of the lot. If the open floor at the top connected and the two roofs connected this would be basically what I was looking for.
I hope you enjoyed this journey with me exploring AI Generated images. Here is a sneak peak at Part 2. I have developed Afrofuturistic Hotels inspired by a handful of African countries. This one is an Ecolodge inspired by Rwanda.
