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Design

'Architecting the Metaverse'

  • Seoul, Korea
  • DDP Design Museum
  • Complete
  • 2022
Architecting the Metaverse’ is an immersive art project at the intersection of architecture, art, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). It is the result of a 6-month collaboration between Refik Anadol Studio (RAS) and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA).

In alignment with ZHA’s vision of creating transformative cultural spaces that work in synchronicity with their surroundings, RAS is revealing its most innovative experiments with architectural data both in the physical world and the metaverse. This artwork is experienced within an immersive room designed by ZHA in collaboration with RAS, showcasing this experimental perspective of the metaverse to come by merging machine learning, AI, and the aesthetics of ZHA’s works to date. The artwork is a central part of the exhibition at the DDP in Seoul South Korea, ‘Meta Horizons: The Future Now’. The exhibition features the work of ZHA and its pioneering research in Parametric Architecture, highlighting new directions of CyberPhysical space and Metaverse.

With this unique project, RAS & ZHA aim to create an artwork that merges complexity with sublime aesthetics while simultaneously connecting various discourses in cyber-physical architecture and artificial intelligence.

‘Architecting the Metaverse’ extends RAS Media Lab’s ongoing research project and visualizes their entire database of architectural documentation in the oeuvre of ZHA. ‘Multi-model’ AI algorithms have been utilized to analyse image and script data compiled and composed by ZHA. These algorithms result in comprehensive datasets that represent a portfolio of spatial designs spanning the built and the speculative. The curated outcomes of these analyses are projected on the mirrored walls of the immersive room – a structure specifically designed for ‘Meta Horizons: The Future Now’.

The immersive room integrates media into built forms, combining the boundlessness of space with the endless permutations of machine intelligence, inviting visitors to step into an infinitely reflecting mirrored tunnel that uses light, sound, and technology to create a seismic perception shift. This project also marks the first collaboration between ZHA & RAS – each pioneer in their respective fields of architecture, art, and technology.

Since Refik Anadol (RAS) and Patrik Schumacher’s (ZHA) first meeting in London in 2021, the RAS and ZHA teams have been working together to speculate on the future of architecture in the digital realm. Architecting the Metaverse will be the first of its kind in making the machine dream about ZHA architectural works around the world, presented through an immersive spatial experience generated by ZHA’s venerated designs and AI.

Collaboration by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) & Refik Anadol Studio (RAS)
Launched in occasion of Meta-Horizons Exhibition at DDP, Seoul, 2022
Made possible by Seoul Design Foundation
Powered by OpenAI DALL-E 2 & NVIDIA StyleGAN2 ADA

Architect

ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

Design

Patrik Schumacher

ZHA Project Team

Jamil Al Bardawil, Shajay Bhooshan, Vishu Bhooshan, Jianfei Chu, Efthymia Douroudi, Ivan Hewitt, Manon Janssens, Taeyoon Kim, Melodie Leung, Henry David Louth, Ling Mao, Edward Meyers, Ceren Tekin, Philip Singer, Yutong Xia, Henry Virgin

RAS Principal

Refik Anadol

RAS Project Team:

Christian P. Burke, Rishabh Chakrabarty, Mert Cobanoglu, Efsun Erkilic, Carrie He, Toby Heinemann, Dave Hunt, Kerim Karaoglu, Pelin Kivrak, Daniel Seungmin Lee, Ho Man Leung, Kyle McLean, Alex Morozov, Raman K. Mustafa, Nidhi Parsana, Yufan Xie

Technology Consultant / Projection Mapping

M2 visual

Technology operation

DDP AV Team

Sponsors for 77’’ OLED Screens

LG Display