Visual Culture in Architecture: Virgil Abloh’s Cross-Disciplinary Design Language

Abstract

This paper investigates the integration of Virgil Abloh’s Personal Design Language (PDL) within the broader context of architectural methodology. Through a series of workshops, architecture students and professionals engaged with Abloh’s principles to examine how subtle aesthetic and functional adjustments, grounded in artistic disciplines, can produce transformative effects on iconic 20th-century architectural forms. These workshops underscored the potential of Abloh’s interdisciplinary approach to enhance architectural discourse by introducing a novel lens through which contemporary design methodologies can be evaluated. The findings reveal that employing weighted coefficients for less commonly utilized design principles enabled novel evaluation processes, fostering creative experimentation and innovation. Additionally, this research highlights discrepancies that may arise when employing differing evaluation methodologies in the assessment of architectural work, thereby initiating a critical discussion on the public acceptance of architectural designs and the implications of varied grading frameworks in professional practice.