MetaMundo’s 3D NFT Villa Opens Questions about the Function of Architecture in the Metaverse

MetaMundo has launched its second three-dimensional NFT, an ocean-adjacent villa, complete with an NFT gallery, meditation pavilions, and entertaining areas. The structure was designed by American architect and hybrid-creative Luis Fernandez to become an immersive space for meeting, playing, and relaxing. Through this project, the architect aims to explore the changing paradigm of building in the metaverse. As laws of physics become irrelevant and materials are reduced to surface images, he asks the question what will architecture mean for the metaverse, how will we experience it and how will we use it?

+ 15

Architecture built for the metaverse seems to divide into two different approaches: taking full advantage of the lack of constraints, such as physics, to create a sculptural object that can be explored or reiterating familiar shapes and forms of architecture. According to architect Luis Fernandez, his approach is based not on the shape of the final object, but on functions that architecture can serve in the metaverse. From this question, the spaces designed to be virtually experienced are freed from some constraints found in the physical world, like controlling humidity or exposure to natural elements, but they are still spaces meant to be experienced by people in an immersive way. For Luis Fernandez, one of the main uses of the metaverse will be meditation.

The architect also discusses the references to architecture history and theory. When entering the villa, users are teleported to the main entry point, which recalls the columns of ancient temples in Greece.  Other inspirations for the villa were Frank Lloyd Wright, for the relationship between architecture and landscape, and Mies van der Rohe for the shape of the interior columns and the use of materials such as marble and natural stone.

---

Related Article

Clinging to Familiarity in the Metaverse: Are We More Likely to Accept Architecture When it Looks Familiar?

---

According to the architect, he takes cues from mid-century modern architecture as a way to understand the works of masters like Le Corbusier, who “looked at the traditional and the established and tried to break that down by coming with these new rules, which spoke to the way modern life was being conducted.” In an interview with MetaMundo, Luis Fernandez expresses his opinion that we are at a similar point today when traditional forms of architecture are challenged by the evolution of the virtual world.

AT the end of the day, I think of these spaces – those in the metaverse – as being very similar to set design, as in the set of a theater, or film; they’re all telling a story. – Luis Fernandez

The 3D NFT villa is being sold as an exclusive edition of 100, minted by MetaMundo. The object is optimized for use throughout the metaverse, on platforms such as Spatial, Decentraland, and Cryptovoxels. MetaMundo also updates the NFTs post-sale to optimize them for maturing and newer versions of the metaverse.