ChatGPT as an Architect’s Collaborator: A Prompt Manual for Cognitive Co-Design
A manual of sorts, yes - but more so, a cartography of how design begins to bend, twist, and evolve when conversation itself becomes the act of architecture. Includes 6 studio-tested Prompts for study
From Silent Assistant to Cognitive Partner
There’s a quiet shift underway. Architects are no longer just sketching buildings—they’re orchestrating ideas, systems, and conversations. And as AI evolves from being a tool to becoming a co-thinker, the architectural mind must evolve too. ChatGPT—particularly in its GPT-4o avatar—is not a machine that responds; it’s one that interprets, mirrors, and even nudges thought.
In our lab, we’ve tested, failed, refined, and built around this. What emerged is not a workflow—it’s a ritual. A 6-step approach where ChatGPT moves from assistant to collaborator across the architectural design process.
This is your teaser. A breadcrumb trail. For the full architecture of how this works, our 6-part Prompt Engineering crash course on Substack opens the entire vault.
1. Project Intelligence: Reading the Brief Before the Blueprint
Every design begins in a fog. Clients speak in fragments. PDFs are outdated. Expectations shift like sand.
ChatGPT becomes the cartographer of this ambiguity.
It can:
Translate email threads or transcripts into categorized project briefs.
Identify contradictions or missing dimensions.
Draft timelines, deliverables, and studio roles before the first sketch is made.
Prompt 1 : “Using the project description provided above, analyze and extract the following layers, Site-specific details and constraints, Implied or stated user requirements, Aesthetic or experiential intentions, Potential red flags or ambiguities in the brief. Then, propose a phased design-development timeline with loosely defined milestones that could guide the project forward. You may reinterpret or question elements as necessary.”
Use this before your first team meeting, not after.
2. Concept Development: Thinking Through Metaphor
Ideation doesn’t start with a form. It starts with a feeling—a murmur beneath the surface. ChatGPT doesn’t give you ‘concepts.’ It helps you hold the right questions until they reveal themselves.
It can:
Suggest site-responsive metaphors: “Architecture as shadow,” “Shelter as silence.”
Curate precedents from similar contexts or climates.
Rationalize Midjourney mood boards into narrative threads.
Prompt Template: “You are an architectural concept strategist. Propose three design metaphors for a [project type: resort, urban school, cultural center, etc.] situated in a [specific climate or geographic setting]. Each metaphor should directly address a defined [site constraint or user need] such as extreme heat, limited access, or intergenerational use. For each metaphor, pair it with a real-world architectural precedent that exemplifies a similar spatial or conceptual response. Include a brief explanation of the metaphor and its relevance to the site.”
Concepts cease to be clichés. They become memories waiting to be designed.
3. Site & Data Translation: Making the Invisible Legible
Software like Forma or Ladybug gives us numbers. But numbers are not wisdom. ChatGPT acts as an interpreter—not of data, but of design intention buried inside that data.
It can:
Read sun path charts and distill orientation logic.
Translate CSV outputs into zoning insights.
Merge terrain slope data with accessibility strategies.
Prompt Template: “You are an environmental design consultant reviewing the wind flow and sun path data for a proposed site located in [city]. Using the climate diagrams provided above, suggest spatial orientation strategies that optimize thermal comfort and natural ventilation. Identify potential entry point alignments in response to prevailing wind directions, and propose design ideas for shading and passive cooling suited to the site's solar exposure profile. Your response should integrate climatic logic with architectural intuition.”
This is where the intuition of the land meets the intelligence of language.
4. Design Critique: Reclaiming the Desk Review
You don’t need feedback at the end of the process—you need it while you’re thinking.
ChatGPT offers a logic mirror.
It can:
Review schematic plans for movement logic, privacy gradients, or sequencing.
Flag missing connections between public and service areas.
Offer alternate layouts or spatial arrangements.
Prompt : “You are a spatial design reviewer evaluating the layout of a 3BHK apartment. Based on the floor plan provided above, assess the design for circulation clarity, natural daylight access, and zoning efficiency across public, semi-private, and private areas. Identify any spatial bottlenecks, functional overlaps, or overlooked inefficiencies, and suggest specific improvements that can enhance livability and spatial coherence.”
It’s not a teacher. It’s the colleague who listens without ego and responds without agenda.
5. Visual Translation: Communicating Thought to Others
The design isn’t done until it’s understood.
ChatGPT crafts the language around your images, not just for aesthetic flair but for semantic precision.
It can:
Write captions, narratives, or voiceovers for design presentations.
Script pitch decks and explanation videos.
Create visual prompts for Midjourney based on emotional or spatial cues.
Prompt Template: “Based on this image of a monolithic villa embedded in a rocky hillside, draft an Instagram caption and a presentation note that together express the design’s mood, material palette, and connection to the terrain. Avoid generic adjectives—focus on intent, experience, and atmosphere”
Design here becomes not a picture, but a passage.
6. Documentation & Post-Design Reflection
Design is a cycle, not a line. The final phase is not a submission. It’s a study of what emerged, what was missed, and what transformed.
ChatGPT can:
Generate project summaries, learning documents, and reflection reports.
Convert meeting notes into task logs or issue trackers.
Analyze post-occupancy feedback to inform future choices.
Structured Prompt Template: “You are conducting a spatial performance review based on a post-occupancy interview. Analyze the transcript to extract user sentiments related to spatial quality, functional efficiency, and emotional experience. Categorize the feedback into two sections: (1) design strengths that resonated with users, and (2) areas where the design fell short or could be improved. Where applicable, link insights to specific spatial elements or usage patterns.”
This is how we design not just buildings, but better questions for the next time.
Closing Thought: The Architect’s Other Hand
When architects learn to speak with ChatGPT—not to it—the act of designing itself changes. It’s no longer about solutions. It’s about tuning into silence, asking better questions, and letting the tool trace your mental maps while you navigate meaning.
If you found resonance here, the complete 5-part course on ChatGPT for Architects awaits on our Substack. Each lesson unfolds these ideas with prompts, examples and deeper dives into real-world applications. This post is just the sketch. The course is the built form.
Read it. Reflect. Rethink your rituals.
I’m Sahil Tanveer of the RBDSai Lab signing off for the week. I promote, consult, and apply AI for Architects along with my Architecture and Design Studio, RBDS. If you liked this Substack,
You will love my book, DELIRIOUS ARCHITECTURE: Midjourney for Architects. It is a 330-page hardcover showcasing the potential of AI in Architectural Design. It is available on Amazon worldwide.
You can bend your minds with our WhatsApp channel AI IN ARCHITECTURE where we talk about AI and its impact on us and the built environment.
You can consult with us on AI for your architecture studio. We have multiple levels of learning and integration, from a Beginners session to the AIMM Assessment and beyond. Get in touch with us at sahil@rbdsailab.com or check out our page www.rbdsailab.com
I’m talking about AI. Our team is set to visit key cities of India for architectural conferences, Podcasts and exclusive student interactions at architecture schools. We’d love to come over for an engaging meetup, hands-on workshop, or a creative collab. Enquiries to sahil@rbdsailab.com