Architects from British Studio Zaha Hadid – headed up by legendary architect Dame Zaha Hadid – have built a virtual city within the metaverse called Liberland Metaverse. Users can purchase land via cryptocurrency within the virtual city and visit virtual buildings.
But this is more than just another metaverse ‘cyber city’. Liberland Metaverse takes inspiration from the real-world Free Republic of Liberland, a seven square kilometer sovereign state that lies between Croatia and Serbia.
The Free Republic of Liberland was claimed by Vít Jedlička and Jana Markovicova in April 2015 and is currently the third smallest sovereign state. As of now, the micronation is an unofficial state as the UN and other international organizations have yet to recognize it.
Those who choose to build and host businesses in the virtual city will also have a stake in its physical world counterpart. Mytaverse, a platform for creating 3D multiplayer environments, is hosting Liberland Metaverse.
“While the Liberland Metaverse is meant to spearhead the development of Liberland as a libertarian micronation, it will also function as a free-standing virtual reality realm in its own right, “Patrick Schumacher, principal at Zaha Hadid Architects, told Dezeen.
Schumacher believes Liberland Metaverse can act as a template for the state’s real-world presence citing its use of realistic design and photo-realistic rendering.
“This realism in our cyber-urban conception also allows for the later physical realization of the designed metaverse spaces in the physical Liberland, to any desired extent,” added Schumacher.
Inside Liberland Metaverse
Within the city are buildings of Zaha Hadid Architecture’s design, including a city hall and exhibition center. All buildings take advantage of the architecture company’s signature curvy style. Additionally, some digital designs are impossible to recreate in the physical world as they don’t receive support from the ground. Roar is now providing an architecture and design service within the Decentraland metaverse in other metaverse news.
The Metaverse is on the Rise
The metaverse continues to be a lucrative and growing market, with top tech companies like Microsoft, Meta and Roblox leading the way. Recently, Volt Games received $1.5 million in funding for its fully interoperable sports metaverse. Likewise, Bandai Namco is creating the Mobile Suit Gundam Metaverse, which will host games, videos and live music.
Jack Brassell is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Jack is a self-proclaimed nerd with a lifelong passion for storytelling. As an author, Jack writes mostly horror and young adult fantasy. Also an avid gamer, she works as the lead news editor at Hardcore Droid. When she isn't writing or playing games, she can often be found binge-watching Parks & Rec or The Office, proudly considering herself to be a cross between Leslie Knope and Pam Beasley.
