RBDS AI Lab | Dharwad
A research-led practice exploring how AI transforms architectural thinking, visual culture, and the future of design.
This is a studio for the part of architecture that has not stopped being interesting. AI is treated here as a material — with grain, refusal, and weight. Some of the work below is built. Some is written. All of it is unfinished, by design.
Field Note · 2026-05
An evening experiment from the studio. We took an open-source 3D modelling package, cloned it internally, and stitched an LLM layer on top of the physical modelling engine. A WebSocket bridge connects a running Claude Code agent directly to that layer — the architect speaks in natural language, and the modelling environment responds to the agent's directions. Most of the AI-in-architecture conversation still sits at the image layer. This one moves the cursor a ring inwards.
Recorded as a short reel · vertical, made for Instagram first
The Lab
01 / 08
Architecture has carried its own intelligence for centuries — judgment, authorship, spatial reading. It now meets an intelligence that does not think the way it thinks. The Lab studies what the discipline keeps, what it lets go of, and what it must learn to direct.
02 / 08
AI is not a tool that obeys. It is a foreign reasoning that suggests, drafts, distorts. Working with one is not delegation — it is direction. The architect must learn to lead a collaborator that understands neither the brief nor the ground, and use what comes back.
03 / 08
Every studio is now an image factory. The machine generates faster than the architect can curate. The design decision shifts: from what to make, to what to keep — and what to refuse to make at all.
04 / 08
Research at the Lab is conducted through projects, not papers. Site, brief, climate, deadline, client. The questions worth answering are the ones forced into the open by real constraints.
05 / 08
We refuse work that wants AI as a finish, not as a method. We refuse projects where the brief is a render style instead of a building. We refuse to ghost-write a studio's voice into our work, or to outsource judgment to a model that has no skin in the room. The Lab grows by what it turns away, and most of what arrives is turned away.
06 / 08
Advisory work is quiet by design. Studios and institutions arrive with private questions about AI in their practice — what to adopt, what to keep at arm's length, what to build internally, what to never outsource. We answer plainly.
07 / 08
The architects entering practice now will spend their careers working alongside AI. Learning at the Lab is structured for them. Curricula, workshops, and programmes that teach the instrument without thinning the design judgment that gave the instrument its weight.
08 / 08
Built work through RBDS keeps the Lab honest. Every theory tested here is eventually run against site, climate, material, budget — and the client who has to live with the result. Theory that doesn't survive that test doesn't leave the Lab.
Lab Archive
The Lab's working archive. Essays, image studies, talks, and the field notes behind each one — published as the work is being made, kept current as it grows.
What I've been working through, recently. — S.
The popular shorthand for multimodal is that the AI can now see images. Not wrong — only shallow enough to make the next two years of architectural AI work harder than it nee…
Substack↗
The most useful word in image-AI is also the most badly named. We say the model “generated” an image—as if it began with a blank canvas and laid down strokes the…
A practising architect, four weeks into a residential project, asks the model to refine the kitchen detailing. The model returns a confident, well-composed proposal — and qui…
Most of the frustration architects report with AI is not a tool problem. It is a category mistake . The architect, trained for two decades to operate deterministic software —…
Image generation has spent the last few years trying to impress architects. Atmospheres. Impossible houses. Cinematic interiors. Polished facades. Unbuilt resorts. Enough visual no…
Featured · Book
Midjourney for architects. The book on AI image generation as an architectural medium — hallucinations, reality, and the discipline of refusing what comes back.
First edition · 2024 · paperback
Read on Notion Press ↗
Three-hour recorded workshop on integrating Midjourney into the architectural design workflow — prompt-craft, the model, ethical and practical applications.
Setup guide for Midjourney on Discord and the Web App. From subscription to first image, calibrated for architects and designers.
Beginner-friendly walkthrough for architects new to Midjourney — install, subscribe, and produce your first architectural image.
Foundations for working with AI as an architect or designer. Models, workflows, and the judgment that separates a tool from a collaborator.
The vocabulary and grammar of prompting Midjourney with architectural intent. Theory before tooling.
Speaking
Keynotes, lectures, panels, and public conversations by Sahil Tanveer on AI, architecture, design futures, creative practice, and the changing role of the architect.
50 Shades of Alien Intelligence · IIA Karnataka Chapter, Bengaluru · 60 min Flagship Talk
01
A custom-developed thesis-style keynote built specifically for the event. Crafted from research, framing, and a public argument that lands with weight. Sahil's most demanding format.
30–75 minutes
02
A long-form lecture drawn from one of Sahil's existing arguments — Delirious Architecture, Beyond Automation, Rituals of Intelligence. The argument is already built; the lecture adapts it for the room.
60–90 minutes
03
A fireside or interview format with a host or panel chair. Slower, more dialogic, listener-shaped — closer to a public conversation than a presentation.
30–60 minutes
04
Academic and pedagogical register — guest lectures, research colloquia, thesis reviews, institutional conversations. Reviewed under the academic path with greater flexibility.
60–90 minutes
A note on invitations
Sahil accepts a limited number of speaking invitations each year. Each one involves preparation, framing, research, and travel — the studio reviews invitations along four paths.
Professional
Reviewed when a speaker honorarium has been allocated, or is being formally approved. Professional bodies are reviewed as professional engagements even when the event is educational in nature — the two can co-exist; the review path follows the second.
Sponsored events
Considered professional engagements. The simple test we apply: events that pay for the venue, the stage, the photography, and the trophies should also pay for the speaker.
Academic & research
Considered separately, with greater flexibility, where there is strong intellectual or pedagogical alignment — guest lectures, thesis reviews, institutional conversations. Academic flexibility does not extend to sponsored, ticketed, or association events.
Workshops & learning
Masterclasses, multi-session programmes, faculty training, and structured learning live with Logika, the Lab's learning centre. Reach out there for those.
A formal proposal — covering scope, honorarium, AV, travel, IP, and recording terms — is shared after an initial conversation.
Begin an Invitation Brief →I'd rather decline an invitation cleanly than accept one that doesn't sit right. If your situation doesn't fit the paths above, write to me anyway — most of the engagements I've valued most started as conversations, not briefs.
His talk became a highlight of the conference — many called him the most memorable speaker of the event.
We were lucky to have Sahil speak at Domclick Digital Day. From the very first moment, he captivated the audience, taking them on a vivid, cinematic journey into the world of artificial intelligence. His talk became a highlight of the conference — we received consistently positive feedback, and many called him the most memorable speaker of the event. Thank you, Sahil, for your inspiration and outstanding performance.
Yulia Kholodkovskaya
Conference Lead
Domclick · Sber
After a first engagement in Tyumen, Domclick invited Sahil back as a keynote at their flagship Digital Day in Moscow.
30 min KeynoteDomClick Digital Day
Tyumen, Russia
30 min KeynoteDomClick Digital
Moscow, Russia
60 min Authored LectureIIID CEP3
Mumbai · Jio World Centre
90 min Authored LectureIIA Orissa Chapter
Bhubaneswar, Odisha
60 min Authored LectureCOA Transformations · DY Patil School of Architecture
Navi Mumbai, India
60 min Flagship TalkIIA Bengaluru · Karnataka Chapter
Bengaluru, India
A longer recordOpen on CanvaThe broader sweep beyond the six framed events.
Advisory
Research, concept design support, AI-assisted visualisation, narrative strategy, and workflow consulting for architecture studios, institutions, and creative teams.
Aurum Curve · architectural moving image
01 / 06
Early-stage spatial direction, site reading, narrative development, and AI-assisted concept iteration with the studio in the loop.
02 / 06
Strategic visuals, walkthroughs, films, and presentation systems that help teams communicate design thinking clearly.
03 / 06
Architectural and design research developed alongside the studio's projects, public talks, competitions, and publications.
04 / 06
Reliable internal workflows for design studios: tool selection, prompt systems, review protocols, knowledge bases, and delivery checks.
05 / 06
Structured training programmes for studios and institutions — calibrated to the team's existing tools, workflows, and posture.
06 / 06
Selected studio engagements remain confidential depending on the nature of the work. Discussed quietly; agreements protect both sides.
From the advisory desk
Most of our advisory work is under NDA. Two recent engagements, described in the most general terms our agreements allow.
Case 01 · airport terminal · concept stage
We worked with an architect to develop AI-driven concepts for a new airport terminal. The collaboration sat at the front end of the project — image studies, atmospheric reads, spatial arguments — produced inside the studio's own language, not outside it. The architect remained the author. The Lab was the intelligence in the room.
Confidential · project under NDA
Case 02 · large-scale resort · concept + intent
For a large-scale resort, we collaborated with the architect on two registers at once — concept development on one side, and the harder problem of communicating intent on the other. Visuals, walkthroughs, and presentation language calibrated to land the design clearly with the client. The architect held the ground. We helped the ground reach further.
Confidential · project under NDA
For studios and institutions ready to engage. Confidential by default.
Discuss an Advisory ProjectEvery studio is different. Tell us where you are, what you are trying to build, and where your team is struggling. We'll come back with a curated direction.
Tell Us About Your StudioSelected studio collaborations may remain confidential depending on the nature of the engagement.
Learn
[Lo·gi·ka] — the Lab's education layer
Courses, workshops, and learning programmes for architects, designers, students, educators, and studios entering the age of artificial intelligence.
Featured course · RBDS AI Lab × LDOT
Co-taught by Ar. Sahil Tanveer & Martin Klaasen — 45+ years of lighting design experience meets architectural AI literacy.
A foundational course teaching lighting designers and spatial practitioners to integrate AI tools into their workflows. Five modules, 41 lessons, 17+ hours of structured content — covering AI fundamentals, the AI toolbox, simulation and analysis, documentation and presentation, and future-proofing the studio.
5 modules · 41 lessons · 17+ hours · self-paced · lifetime access
$449limited launch · originally $499
Enroll on AILDC ↗
FoundationA practice-changing physical workshop building applied AI literacy for design professionals. Half-day or full-day formats, hosted by a firm or institution and delivered to its team. Not a tech briefing — a structured encounter with a new design intelligence.
InstitutionA structured five-day training that turns architecture faculty into confident facilitators of AI-augmented design education. Foundations, architectures, co-creation, workflows + ethics, and integration — for first-year curriculum.
AdvancedAn advanced workshop for practising architects and designers. A disciplined framework for converting image-driven client briefs into decision-led architectural thinking — addressing the new pressure of AI-generated client expectations on the studio.
FoundationLanding page · soonA 90-minute opening seminar — calibrated for teams already curious about AI but missing a structured first encounter. Maps what AI is, what it isn't, and where the design profession sits inside it. Foundation-level, decision-maker pace.
IntermediateLanding page · soonAn intermediate workshop on directing Midjourney with architectural judgment. From prompt vocabulary and reference grammar to series consistency, atmosphere, and the discipline of refusing what comes back. For studios already experimenting.
IntermediateLanding page · soonAn intermediate workshop on language models as collaborators inside the studio — not as content generators. Prompting for research, brief interpretation, design reasoning, project memory, and where LLMs genuinely change the studio's thinking pace.
Anshul Chodha
Principal Architect · Sanctuary Architects
Nagraj
Senior Partner · 4D Architects
Anusha & Neha
Senior Lighting Designers · Studio Plus
The workshop helps demystify and simplify the introduction to the concept of AI and its visualization powers for the spatial design community. The practical and hands-on approach was relatable and easy to understand for everyone. Their practical section enabled everyone to apply the learnings almost instantly. Very well structured and delivered by Sahil. Kudos!
Surender Gnanaolivu
Retail Designer · 4Dimensions
This workshop exceeded all expectations and how! So many moments across the workshop I said 'Wow' out loud. Sahil was so gripping and full of information. He held everyone's attention beautifully throughout and patiently answered every doubt. His knowledge on Midjourney is unparalleled and his passion and commitment is infectious. Highly recommend to all my friends and colleagues!
Kavya Sheth
Architect · Studio Ruh
Sahil is one of those brilliant minds that combines a great personality with educational skills that leaves you absolutely excited after he leads you through the complex world that is AI. He has mastered the AI tools to a level that allows you to easily comprehend what you can do with it! As a lighting designer I can very much relate to the architectural world (and more!) that Sahil brings to the table. I could not recommend anyone more capable to guide you through the world of AI!
Martin Klaasen
Lighting Designer · Nulty+KLD
1000+ Architects & Designers
Trained across the workshop series
Selected Engagements
Studio
Architecture, interiors, applied intelligence in practice
Our architecture and interiors practice, where the Lab's thinking is tested through real projects, clients, materials, constraints, and built work. Hire the studio that grounds AI in contextual design — not the AI-architects of influence.
People behind the work
RBDS AI Lab is founder-led but supported by a real studio team. Architecture, interiors, research, and visual systems happen alongside the public-facing layer — not in service of it.
“We’re pretty passionate here. Bordering on crazy.”
We’re a small studio working at the seam between architecture and intelligence. Built work, applied research, writing, teaching, and image-grade studies all happen under one roof — slowly, carefully, with the kind of attention that the work seems to demand.
We’re based in Dharwad, in the north of Karnataka. We’ve been doing this since 2013. The Lab — RBDS AI Lab — is the newer arm, where the architectural practice meets the AI conversation that’s rewriting our profession.
Studio
Kalyan Nagar, Dharwad, Karnataka — 580007, India
Contact
Routes In
Invite Sahil to speak, commission RBDS for built work, or bring the Lab into your studio, institution, or programme. Pick the door closest to what you need — each leads to a short, structured brief.
01 / 03
Keynotes, authored lectures, conferences, panels, and visiting talks at schools. Reviewed against the Invitation Brief.
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02 / 03
Architecture, interiors, hospitality, renovation. The studio side — where AI thinking is grounded in real material, real sites, real clients.
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03 / 03
Studio advisory, Logika training and workshops, applied research, institutional collaborations, press, careers. The Lab side — for everyone bringing AI into design practice.
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