The digitisation of architecture and design projects has been going on for some time now and has increased even more, largely due to the global pandemic. To hear talk of the metaverse, the NFT or the digital twins seems to be commonplace at this time, when the digital economy is booming and where architects and designers who seek to move from the physical world to the virtual world are beginning to proliferate. But will virtuality be the future of architectural visualisation?
Andrés Reisinger is an Argentinian designer based in Barcelona who, together with the architect Alba de la Fuente, has developed a residential project for the metaverse inspired by the coldest season of the year. Under the name "Winter House", the project comprises a virtual independent dwelling characterised by its clear geometric lines and rather calm colours that seek to transmit a sense of tranquillity.
This house represents a further step towards the digitalisation of interiors and real estate and is only a preliminary project of a metaverse architecture studio that Reisinger is setting up with other partners. The question then arises, could the issues of new forms of living be addressed in a virtual architecture without interaction? How could these digital tools be used in conceptual as well as technical and operational solutions?
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In an era of mass migration, a climate emergency and other looming conflicts, Reisinger works mixing the world of art with the world of design, developing from the creation of 3D images to their physical realisation as in the case of their Hortensia Chair. From the design of the "Winter House", they seek to merge the interior and exterior, finding a balance that creates the perfect winter hideaway possible. Combining different architectural movements, they are inspired by the early 1960s designs of Dieter Rams to propose a large concrete structure as the building's support that sprouts from the ground. Its floating floor is juxtaposed with the floor-to-ceiling glazed panels that allow natural light to enter the interior spaces.
The surrounding nature becomes part of the house and the contrasts and dualities of the dwelling are vital in creating a distinctive habitat that revolves around intimacy and seclusion. The different areas are designed to appear open and immersed in the winter landscape. The pink hues predominate in the interiors along with the implementation of natural materials such as concrete, glass, steel and beige tones.
We imagine what the winter season might look like in the metaverse, bringing together all the feelings of tranquillity, stillness and comfort we associate with winter and translating them into a residential form.
- Andrés Reisinger
Colours and textures are combined to offer different degrees of warmth in each of the spaces. The materials chosen represent the duality characteristic of the project and contribute to transmitting a sense of tranquillity. It turns out that this is not the first house that Reisinger and De la Fuente have designed together, but the second virtual house where their creative and architectural visions manage to find harmony and also clash because of the ways of understanding and recognising spaces.
Setting a new path in the digital migration of real estate, the "Winter House" is a residential project that can be applied to both existing and future metaverses. It remains to ask our clients and ourselves: would we really pay for virtual architecture? Or could we produce an architecture that adapts to everyday contexts from virtuality?
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Future of Architectural Visualizations, proudly presented by Enscape, the most intuitive real-time rendering and virtual reality plugin for Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, and Vectorworks. Enscape plugs directly into your modeling software, giving you an integrated visualization and design workflow.
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