The new metaverse platform pax.world, set to launch in early 2023, has announced its collaboration with global architecture offices Grimshaw, HWKN, Farshid Moussavi, and WHY to create “Metaserai,” a vast social and cultural hub envisioned as the core of the new virtual community. The hubs are designed to host virtual cultural, social, and educational events such as concerts, theatre shows, digital art galleries, markets, lectures, parties, and festivals.
The pax.world platform aims to develop into a fully functioning society governed by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, also known as a DAO. The virtual space will be divided into privately-owned plots of land punctuated by Metaserai communal hubs. These take inspiration from the Caravanserai of the ancient Silk Road, which became hubs for commerce and cultural exchange. Each of the architects is designing their own interpretation of Metaserai.
Read on to discover details about the architects’ designs for the new virtual social spaces.
Grimshaw
The structure takes its cue from the architectural features of the caravanserai, a simple structure surrounding a central courtyard and watering point. The cuboid shape appears to levitate in its location. As it has no physical connections to the ground, visitors can enter through spherical follies or gates. The interactions between users will trigger a flow of data which will, in turn, influence the bespoke spaces, all generated from a kit-of-parts. This constantly shape-shifting architecture aims to reflect human interaction at a scale, speed, and scale impossible in a physical environment.
The metaverse is an evolution of our current processes of design communication in the virtual world, where we take concepts from the physical to the digital and challenge ourselves, in real-time, to further understand the human perception of space in architecture. - Keith Brewis, Partner at Grimshaw
HWKN
HWKN’s design, Paxton, is a multilevel open hexagonal form derived from the physical world yet transformed by the digital freedom of the metaverse. Located in a surreal desert, Paxton offers a variety of experiences, from concerts in the vast amphitheater to wall-less galleries, meeting rooms open to the sky, and exercise facilities in a sculpted rooftop garden. Its familiar yet futuristic image is meant to create a comfortable, inviting, but also exciting gathering location.
Farshid Moussavi Architecture
The virtual design aims to further explore the firm’s interest in promoting social values such as inclusivity, multiplicity, and diversity. The structure is created to become an enclosure and a focal point for gathering. The event spaces are arranged around three large circular courtyards, which connect visually to the communal great halls. This central display turns the courtyards into spaces of serendipity. The outside of the Metaserai is clad with mirror, perpetually reflecting the exterior context and shifting the point of view of visitors approaching the building.
WHY
WHY propose a symphony of touchpoints enlivened by the chorus of conversation and commerce. Reminiscent of the caravanserai, the space centers around an open public plaza, a harmonious space that celebrates natural materiality with waterfalls, skylights, and vegetation spreading across the landscape. The aim is to create a grounding experience to generate a positive emotional and even physiological response for the visitors. The central courtyard opens to subterranean rooms, levitating islands, grand halls, or meditative relaxation rooms. The expansive programming is designed to welcome all types of events.
During the last few years, the concept of the metaverse has ignited the imagination of many architects and artists who are trying to understand its potential and limitations. One of these explorations if the SOLIDS project, which uses a generative process to design unique, metaverse-compatible buildings. Felipe Escudero has also unveiled the “tallest multipurpose tower in the metaverse,” while other architects preserve historical buildings by recreating them in this new medium.
