Using AI to Brainstorm Cabin Design

This is FAR FROM PERFECT as the interior space does not match the exterior design, but I’m finding this useful for brainstorming design ideas for a cabin home. It is giving me design ideas I’d not considered before. It is an intriguing brainstorming process. These are no doubt WAY over my budget, but the ideas can be reduced in scale while preserving the ambiance. The point is that as this technology matures, there are many useful applications for it.

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We used AI to inspire storage solutions in our wood shop and it was quite helpful!

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Maybe some day they will re-invent ladders and stairs to reach the second floor! :wink:

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Perfect use. No, I’m not using it as a blueprint or an academic brief, but help me work through a process, thought, idea.

Upstairs cozy library for the win

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Interesting experiment!

Bit worried about the Moosehead and its a bit tricky to line up the external view with the internal views.

Fine for feeding the imagination, but AI won’t (at least yet) really know anything about structures, materials etc. There’s the obvious one of needing stairs, and where’s the bathroom? Building in logs is VERY different to building in brick or with a wood frame and siding. A real architect or log cabin builder will “just know” what layouts, heights, roof pitches, door and window openings etc. are likely to be practical and affordable, where’s the best place to put the plumbing and even where the kitchen should go. Those designs look very “tall” to me - log walls are heavy and they have to be able to hold themselves up as well as support the roof etc.

The danger is that if you take even “visions” or “day dreams” to them at a later stage, they’ll build it for you, but at the cost of having hidden steel frames, fancy construction that does not really provide function etc. all of which could have been avoided if you had human expertise involved at the start.

I’d always recommend paying for a no-commitment design meeting BEFORE you start thinking about the design. A good designer should be able to help you understand what you want, clarify your priorities and help you get a feel for costs and the consequences of different choices you might make. I’d also prioritise the site layout: having the windows and doors properly aligned for views, sun, wind and rain makes a big difference.

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Chris, could you suggest a book from which an average person can understand how to build his own log cabin? Step 1, step 2, which nuances to take into account, and so on.

That might be helpful! :wink::grinning:

I’ve only ever built one log “cabin” (a small hut) and that was decades ago and I learnt a lot through trial and (mostly) error. It’s not a common means of construction here in the UK (straight logs cost a lot more than bricks and blocks here). So I wouldn’t want to recommend a book that I hadn’t actually used.

I was client lead on about £15million worth of school buildings and lots of smaller projects and I learnt quite early the value of all the knowledge that good architects, surveyors, engineers and builders don’t even know they know: for a big project, sitting with a team of architect, surveyor, engineer and builder, dreaming and sketching before you’ve even got a basic design and getting them to explain why they instinctively liked and didn’t like various ideas were some of the most valuable meetings I ever had. More recently, getting a small building contractor to explain how he’d tackle a refurbishment, where he thought it could go wrong and how we could help him avoid that felt just the same.

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Indeed. As I was careful to point out, it’s not perfect. I probably should have said “FAR FROM PERFECT.” :slightly_smiling_face: Imperfections aside, I find it a helpful tool for rough visual brainstorming. If I paid for a more specialized app I probably would get better results.

No worries, I’ve been around long enough to know that if we decide to build rather than purchase an existing property, we should employ experts at the front end. This exercise is merely to help me brainstorm and refine my thinking so that I can more accurately articulate to the builder what my wife and I have in mind. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Here you go. This one may be more in my price range. :rofl::wink:

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Those billionaire-sized “cabins” look spacious enough to contain a reunion of the entire MPU community. When can we come over?

Katie

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Perhaps I should start a GoFundMe for my cabin. :rofl:

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Might that be a bit like a book from which an average person can diagnose and treat shortness of breath?

I understand what you mean, of course.

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This isn’t really a guide to log cabin building, but I love this book for that kind of know-how in general: Wildwood Wisdom: Jaeger, Ellsworth, Kahn, Lloyd: 8601404992513: Amazon.com: Books

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