Designing Futures: Exploring AI, Data, Architecture and beyond.

How much of our behaviour is truly our own — and how much is designed?
In this new episode of Designing Futures: Exploring AI, Data, Architecture & Beyond,
we are joined by Patrick Fagan, one of the leading figures in applied behavioural science, to unpack how psychology, data, and generative AI increasingly shape human decision-making.
We explore how behavioural science moved from academic labs into real-world systems — marketing, politics, platforms — and why what works in theory often breaks in context. From pricing experiments that backfire to personality-driven segmentation, this conversation reveals why human behaviour resists simple models.
Together, we dive into:
why personality (OCEAN / Big Five) can outperform demographics
how AI now personalises not just content, but tone, aesthetics, and psychological framing
what this means for design, architecture, urban environments, and spatial experience
and how to build critical distance in a world optimised for influence
Drawing from his latest book Free Your Mind, Patrick also shares why understanding influence is no longer just a marketing skill — but a civic and creative necessity.

Matthias Hollwich — founder of HWKN — joins Nathalie Rozencwajg and Melanie Rozencwajg on Designing Futuresto explore what it means to run a fully AI-integrated architecture studio. At HWKN, AI isn’t an add-on — it informs every stage of design, from concept to construction.
We unpack how this shift enables architects to reclaim their role as visionary world-builders — orchestrating not just form, but experience, performance, and community. AI opens the design room to clients and collaborators, accelerates iteration, and fosters a new kind of design dialogue.
We also delve into “contextual data” as an antidote to homogenised cities — like designing a London tower shaped by London’s own culture, behaviour, and spatial logic. Plus, how emerging robotic and construction technologies are expanding what’s possible — and affordable — to build.
Matthias shares why transparency with clients about AI matters, and how these tools are already reshaping the business of architecture — redefining how we design, plan, and construct.

Jez Groom — founder & CEO of Cowry Consulting and a pioneer in applied behavioral science — joins us on Designing Futures.
With 14+ years of helping global organizations from Amazon to HSBC understand human behavior, Jez explains why most decisions are non-rational, why intentions rarely translate into action, and how simple tweaks can shift behaviour in powerful ways.

This episode makes the case for behavioral intelligence — blending psychology, data, and AI — as a smarter path forward than “AI-first” thinking. Digital traces reveal what people do, but only behavioral science uncovers the deeper why: the subconscious, social, and emotional drivers behind choice. From psychometrics to biometrics, we explore how these methods are reshaping the way we design experiences that people actually follow through on.

Matt Krissel — architect, educator, and principal at Perkins&Will — joins us to rethink our relationship with time in an AI-augmented practice. With decades of experience leading transformative projects and as co-founder of the Built Environment Futures Council, Matt brings a unique perspective on how speed, decision-making, and time are being rebalanced in today’s design culture.

This episode explores the tension between acceleration and reflection: What do we gain when AI compresses timelines — and what risks emerge when decisions are forced too quickly? Can time itself become a design material, reshaped to create space for intuition, narrative, and meaning?
From client expectations to the choreography of choices, we reflect on authority, trust, and the human role in a landscape of data-driven tools. And we ask: in redesigning time, what kind of future are we really designing for?

Luc Izri — architect, theorist, and co-founder of Inflexion Dynamics — joins us to explore the evolving relationship between computation and design thinking. With a deep background in algorithmic and topological design education, Luc brings a fresh perspective on how AI is transforming not only architectural practice, but the way we teach and learn it.
This episode delves into the challenges and opportunities of educating architects at a time when tools can generate, iterate, and optimize with increasing ease. What should we let go of? What do we hold on to? And how can we better prepare students for a profession in transformation?
From shifting workflows to transdisciplinary futures, we reflect together on authorship, complexity, and the emerging soft skills that could redefine the architect’s role in a changing world.
Join us as we rethink not only how we design — but how we decide, teach, and evolve alongside new forms of intelligence.