Zaha Hadid Architects designs virtual Liberland Metaverse city

British architecture studio Zaha Hadid Architects has created a "cyber-urban" city in the metaverse where people can buy plots of land with cryptocurrency and enter digital buildings as an avatar.

Named Liberland Metaverse, the virtual city is a based on the Free Republic of Liberland – a micronation claimed by Czech politician Vít Jedlička that straddles disputed land between Croatia and Serbia.

ZHA is developing a city in the metaverse called Liberland

"While the Liberland Metaverse is meant to spearhead the development of Liberland as a libertarian micronation it will also function as free standing virtual reality realm in its own right," explained Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher.

"The ambition is for it to become the go-to site for networking and collaboration within the burgeoning web 3.0 industry, its the metaverse for metaverse developers and the crypto ecosystem at large," he told Dezeen.

It is a digital replica of the physical micronation the Republic of Liberland

To access Liberland Metaverse, people have to file an application to become an e-resident of the physical micronation. Then they access the space via Mytaverse – a cloud-based platform that creates 3D environments.

Once inside the "cyber-urban crypto incubator", people can visit buildings designed by Zaha Hadid Architects including a city hall, plaza and exhibition centre.

Schumacher designed the space using the computer software parametricism

Zaha Hadid Architects designed all of the buildings in its typical style with curvaceous, sinuous forms and rounded corners. However, many of the buildings have elements not supported from the ground – something that is not possible with gravity in the real world.

The city hall, which is the city's central urban heart has a terraced walkway that wraps around the building. Inside, benches are arranged in a horseshoe configuration and the Liberland flag can be seen hanging on the wall.

The DeFi Plaza has been designed in ZHA's signature curvaceous style

According to its website, the virtual campus, which is surrounded by water, will be used as a "networking hub for crypto projects, crypto companies and crypto events".

People can also buy plots of land and set up businesses in the virtual city and if they do so, they will also have a stake in the physical Liberland.

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Schumacher designed the city using parametricism, a type of computer software used to generate architectural forms.

He believes that the metaverse will act as a catalyst for parametric design, as there are no urban planning limitations in the virtual spaces.

A city hall is located in the centre of the digital city

"The key advantages of virtual environments are their global accessibility and their adaptive, parametric malleability," Schumacher argued.

"The architectural and urban paradigm that is most congenial to this idea of a differentiated, evolving, multi-author urban field is parametricism," he said.

"We therefore predict that the development of the metaverse will boost parametricism."

Avatars can meet to work on crypto projects together

According to Schumacher, Liberland Metaverse could become a template for the micronation's eventual physical presence.

"Our conception of the metaverse is based on realistic design and photo-realistic rendering," he said.

"We believe this, at least in the initial stages of metaverse development, allows for the fullest exploitation of the city analogy, utilising our innate and learned intuitive cognitive capacities with respect to orientation, wayfinding and the reading of subtle aesthetic social atmospheres and situations," he continued.

"This realism in our cyber-urban conception also allows for the later physical realisation of the designed metaverse spaces in the physical Liberland, to any desired extent."

E-residents can also buy plots of land in Liberland Metaverse

The Republic of Liberland is an unofficial state that is not recognised by international organisation such as the United Nations.

Liberland is located between Croatia and Serbia on a plot of land that was unclaimed and uninhabited until 13 April 2015 when Jedlička proclaimed it as a country.

It now has its own community, flag, coat of arms, national anthem and a cryptocurrency called Liberland merit.

The architects hope the city will foster a crypto economy

Although Schumacher believes that the future of the internet is the metaverse, he argues that physical spaces will always coexist alongside virtual ones and that the fusion of both worlds will continue to strengthen.

"As long as we have physical bodies we'll need physical environments," he explained. "Virtual environments are as real as physical environments and social reality exists and continues seamlessly across this divide."

"Virtual and physical environments are ideally designed together," he added.

Architecture studios are increasingly turning to the metaverse to construct virtual buildings. Danish architecture studio BIG recently completed a virtual office in the metaverse for media company Vice Media Group.

Elsewhere architecture and interior design studio Roar purchased land for a new digital showroom.

The images are courtesy ofZaha Hadid Architects.

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BIG designs virtual office in the metaverse for Vice Media Group

Danish architecture studio BIG has designed its first building in the metaverse, a virtual office for employees at media company Vice Media Group called Viceverse.

The recently opened Viceverse office is located on the Decentraland platform, where it will serve as the agency's virtual innovation lab and allow employees to work in the metaverse on Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and other digital projects.

"It is an experimental playground"

Morten Grubak, global executive creative director of innovation at Vice Media's creative agency Virtue Futures, told Dezeen that Viceverse is an "experimental playground".

Virtue Futures worked together with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) on the office, which Grubak believes will foster creativity at the multi-platform media company.

"It's an extremely organic building, we can install an entire floor in a day so we see it as an experimental playground and canvas on which to build," Grubak told Dezeen.

"Teams can experiment with NFTs, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) and Web 3.0, applying insights directly for brands eager to make an impact," he added.

Vice's metaverse headquarters will be used for virtual projects

BIG designed the workspace to look like a white building with an undulating facade, with multiple levels that can be accessed via a central tunnel. Employees in the new headquarters can conduct meetings and collaborate with colleagues from around the world.

"The space showcases a range of digital experiments, and has plenty of hidden extras for curious explorers — including a direct route for young creatives to reach a selection of highly acclaimed global Meta-Mentors," explained Grubak.

"It will also serve as a launchpad for digital field research into the sociology of digital communities," he added.

Virtual office designed to go beyond traditional limits

Decentraland, which houses the office, is an open-source meta world where people create unique avatars to represent their physical selves.

Other businesses have already set up camp in Decentraland, including architecture and design studio Roar which announced that it had bought two plots of land for a showroom in the digital world earlier this year.

Viceverse is Vice Media Group's first metaverse workplace and adds another dimension to the company's existing offices in 25 countries across the globe.

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According to Grubak, Viceverse enables the brand not only to establish its presence in the metaverse but also to explore what work is possible beyond the boundaries of the physical office.

"The brief we gave BIG was to present something that is pushing the boundaries of physical constraints," he said.

"The arrival of Vice Media Group allows its borderless creative workforce to come together virtually for the first time in Decentraland."

"The creative opportunities within the metaverse are hugely exciting and as we're already helping brands navigate this new space it makes sense to have an office there ourselves," Grubak said, citing the fact that Virtue Futures launched Coca-Cola's first NFT last year as an example.

Metaverse workplaces allow remote teams to creatively collaborate

The metaverse is a parallel virtual world where people interact with each other through digital communications.

Vice Media is not alone in its foray into the sphere. In October, Facebook announced that it would be changing its name to Meta and focusing on tailoring products for the metaverse.

Shortly after, a flurry of international brands followed suit including sportswear brand Nike, which unveiled its acquisition of RTFKT, a digital design studio producing trainers that can be worn across different online worlds.

The images are courtesy ofVice Media.

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Something Spaces web plugin showcases the work of Black creatives online

Creative agency Something and nonprofit organisation Where are the Black Designers? have created a web browser plugin that exhibits the work of Black creatives every time a new tab is opened.

Called Something Spaces, the free plugin is available for anyone to download and presents users with an image of artwork by both established and emerging Black artists and designers on their computer screen.

The Something Spaces plugin showcases the work of Black creatives

A web plugin is a type of software that adds features to existing programmes, enabling the customisation of a webpage. In this case, the plugin provides a platform for Black creatives to showcase their work online.

Featured creatives hail from the UK and beyond, including London-based illustrator Olivia Twist and Sierra Leonean-American artist Amir Khadar.

Creative agency Something and non-profit Where are the Black Designers? created the project

"You can download the plugin extension to your desktop via Chrome, Firefox and Safari," Something studio manager Roshannah Bagley told Dezeen.

"You'll find an inspiring piece of artwork with every tab you open from local and international emerging creators,"

New York illustrator Adesewa Adekoya and Seattle-based designer Shakeil Greeley are among other American creatives featured in the project, while the work of emerging Brazilian designer Amanda Lobos is also included.

The Something Spaces plugin was created in collaboration with the volunteer-run, non-profit design advocacy organisation Where are the Black Designers?.

Founded in June 2020, the group was established as protests took place worldwide in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd.

Featured creatives range from illustrators to designers

The plugin is an extension of Something's Spaces initiative, a project set up by the agency in 2019 that allowed creatives to add their work to overlooked public spaces such as windows of buildings.

Now also online, the project gives artists and designers space that they might not have otherwise had to showcase their work in the virtual world as well as the physical one.

Black artists and designers from the UK and beyond feature on Something Spaces

"The initiative was created to remove the barriers between underrepresented talent and opportunities," continued Bagley, who is also a member of the Where are the Black Designers? team.

Bagley explained that the project aims to make it easier for those in the creative industry to find and hire talent from underrepresented communities.

"We fill under-utilised spaces such as browser tabs with inspiring artwork creators that are often overlooked. We’re on a mission to reimagine these spaces by turning them into canvases for creativity."

Photography is also included in the plugin's selection of featured artwork

Something is a London and Byron Bay-based creative agency. Where are the Black Designers? is a non-profit organisation that seeks to amplify and support Black artists and designers worldwide.

Recent projects that aim to educate audiences about Black history include an augmented reality app developed by London non-profit BLAM that gives users the opportunity to see virtual plaques and sculptures related to their current location.

The imagery is courtesy of Something.

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