Here, using water as the only solvent, we report the first green approach to the morphological controlled synthesis of robust ambient dried polyimide aerogels composed of interconnected hollow spheres. The addition of graphene oxide can direct the growth of polyimide into nanofibers and form 1D–2D nanohybrid aerogels. The mechanism behind is a soft/hard template directed dissolution-polymerization-reprecipitation process. After carbonization, a monolith carbon aerogel with monodisperse micropores could be formed. Such a green approach for the morphology controlled synthesis of robust polyimide aerogels and their carbon aerogels should be of great value for their environmental and energy related applications.