Zaha Hadid Architects Designs An Entire Real-World City In The Metaverse
Video screenshot via Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects
Architectural giants are no longer letting physical limitations confine their visions. In a similar vein to the Vice cyber headquarters built by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Zaha Hadid Architects has given a sovereign state it’s been designing for a virtual counterpart.
As detailed by Yanko Design, the Free Republic of Liberland is an unofficial micronation situated on a disputed stretch of land between Croatia and Serbia. The zone had been left alone until Czech politician Vít Jedlicka laid claim on it in 2015, and the British architectural firm, led by its principal Patrik Schumacher, has been planning its buildings since.
The online Liberland is imagined as a virtual double of the 2.7 sq mi state, with the exception of gravity-defying structures that the studio could previously only dream of creating in physical spaces.
“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,” Schumacher shared in a statement published by Dezeen.
Video screenshot via Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects
The firm’s quintessentially curvaceous designs form the “cyber-urban” city’s landmarks, though this time, many of their structures appear to float or are dramatically top-heavy.
For now, the metaverse Liberland is still in construction, though it currently already has a city hall, plazas, an exhibition center, and areas for NFTs.
When it’s ready, virtual residents will be able to use cryptocurrencies to purchase plots of metaverse land that could reflect in real life too. Tourists will then be able to explore it on the Mytaverse 3D platform.
Video screenshot via Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects
Video screenshot via Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects
[via Yanko Design and Dezeen, video and images via Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects]
