Rethinking architectural phenomenology and contextual creativity within digital hyperreal colonial influx

Purpose This article examines the impact of the digital paradigms' surge on architectural representations and conceptual meaning, aiming to redefine architectural practice and theory. Investigating the associated shift in architectural conceptual meaning will consequently highlight the current state of the field and the relevance of cultural context in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an analytical literature review methodology to examine the intersection of pioneering digital technologies with architectural phenomenology and conceptual meaning. Framed through the lens of Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (1994), the exploration is structured around three interrelated trajectories. First, it presents a comparative analysis between the original works of Peter Zumthor – a master of architectural phenomenology – and AI-generated designs inspired by his approach. Second, it investigates generative and AI-assisted designs across diverse geographical contexts, including the Future Museum, the Qatar National Museum, and the headquarters of the BEEAH Group. Third, it offers a critical analysis of the discourse by celebrity architects and architectural organizations, highlighting intersections of digital architectural narratives and cultural perception. Findings The architect's role shifted from master-builder to mediator between data, simulation and lived experience. With the advance of AI and computational tools, architecture increasingly functions as hyperreal simulation. Phenomenological dimensions – spatial perception, temporality, intentionality – persist but are mediated, highlighting tensions between abstraction and embodied experience, with implications for design practice, pedagogy and critical engagement with digital tools. Originality/value This article reframes AI-driven architecture as a transformation of phenomenology rather than form or efficiency. By synthesizing Baudrillard with phenomenological criteria, it theorizes digitally colonized phenomenology, showing how AI replaces embodied, aesthetic and cultural experience with simulated environmental responsiveness.