The March 2026 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine—the premier publication in the field, with a readership exceeding 80,000—features a cover story by Dr. Aaron Thompson, Associate Professor and Director of the Purdue University Center for Community & Environmental Design (CCED). His article, “The Co-Design Catalyst: Developing a Process for AI Text-to-Graphic Tools to Unlock the Power of Community Dialogue,” examines how generative AI platforms such as Midjourney and Nano Banana Pro are transforming community engagement in sustainability initiatives.
In collaboration with HLA doctoral candidate Ishraq Awashra, Dr. Thompson’s CCED team developed these AI text-to-graphic workflows to advance the USDA $10M Diverse Corn Belt project, enabling stakeholders across three states to visualize complex agricultural diversification strategies. Building on this foundation, Dr. Thompson is actively implementing these concepts to facilitate community co-design of agrivoltaics systems through a series of regional focus groups as part of the Purdue University Midwest Agrivoltaics for Resilient Communities project—an initiative of the Institute for a Sustainable Future and a regional incubator funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2025 (for more information, visit: Purdue University Midwest Agrivoltaics for Resilient Communities website.). This project works directly with stakeholders to foster dialogue, build trust, and identify community-centered solutions to renewable energy land use challenges. During focus group sessions, participants will generate text prompts that are transformed into real-time visualizations of proposed agrivoltaic landscapes. The CCED’s approach underscores Purdue’s leadership in leveraging emerging technologies for rural resilience and community-engaged design.