{"id":272,"date":"2025-12-21T13:50:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trainingsequipment.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/21\/som-uses-ai-to-design-diamond-like-west-bund-convention-centre-in-shanghai\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T13:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:50:29","slug":"som-uses-ai-to-design-diamond-like-west-bund-convention-centre-in-shanghai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trainingsequipment.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/21\/som-uses-ai-to-design-diamond-like-west-bund-convention-centre-in-shanghai\/","title":{"rendered":"SOM uses AI to design diamond-like West Bund Convention Centre in Shanghai"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"West<\/div>\n

Global architecture studio SOM<\/a> has used AI<\/a> tools to inform its geometric design for the West Bund Convention Centre, which has risen\u00a0beside the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recently completed convention centre<\/a> sits within Shanghai<\/a>‘s West Bund AI Valley \u2013 an emerging district for China’s artificial intelligence sector \u2013 and is a neighbour to the AI Tower and Plaza skyscraper<\/a> by Japanese studio Nikken Sekkei<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SOM<\/a> employed an AI-assisted workflow to design the 60,000-square-metre building, which is defined by its multifaceted glass exterior that draws on the geometry of a diamond.<\/p>\n

\"Front
SOM has used AI tools to design the West Bund Convention Centre in Shanghai. Photo by Lucas Blair Simpson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The desire was for the building to reflect the spirit of innovation around it, which led us to explore an AI-assisted, multi-objective optimisation workflow that guided its design,” design partner at SOM Scott Duncan told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The process allowed us to arrive at a geometry that performs well environmentally, remains constructible, and meets the project’s spatial requirements as well as the desired experiential qualities.”<\/p>\n

“The final building is a faceted, highly rational form whose clarity expresses the logic of that process,” Duncan added.<\/p>\n

\"Events
Its multifaceted glass exterior draws on a diamond shape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SOM’s AI-assisted process began with a set of spatial boundaries, programmatic requirements and performance objectives outlined by the studio.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of models designed to several parameters were generated by the algorithm, before being evaluated against criteria defined by the architects and engineers.<\/p>\n

According to the studio, this method allowed for a “more comprehensive and informed design solution”, which it says “reduced structural steel quantities, improved energy performance, and rationalised the complex geometry”.<\/p>\n

\"Glass
AI tools allowed for a “more comprehensive and informed design solution”. Photo by Lucas Blair Simpson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Externally, the centre is composed of illuminated, steel-framed glass panels and enclosed at ground level with tree-lined walkways.<\/p>\n

Inside, the centre opens up to an atrium, where escalators guide visitors to two stacked halls on the upper floors. The largest of the halls provides 6,000 square metres of event space for hosting conferences.<\/p>\n

“The building’s stacked program was intentionally shaped using the computational tools it was designed to celebrate,” the studio explained.<\/p>\n