| id |
ascaad2023_062 |
| authors |
Sipahioglu, Nur; Koç, Melahat |
| year |
2023 |
| title |
The Virtual Ways of Settling Down: Reinterpreting the Transformation of Space in Metaverse |
| source |
C+++: Computation, Culture, and Context – Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the Arab Society for Computation in Architecture, Art and Design (ASCAAD), University of Petra, Amman, Jordan [Hybrid Conference] 7-9 November 2023, pp. 918-935. |
| summary |
Metaverse has become a point of discussion in recent years, although the word ‘metaverse’ has been around for more than two decades. Consequently, metaverse platforms are growing in number and capacity, with the media feeding their popularity. Design in and of the metaverse is also the focus of architecture. As computational tools allow for visionary design that is difficult to build in real life, designers are inspired by the possibilities of the metaverse. However, the impact it has on the transformation of architectural space is seldom debated. As the boundary between physical and virtual spaces becomes less clear, the virtual spaces created in and for the metaverse will affect how humans live and shape their spaces. For this reason, it is necessary to reinterpret how we define spaces before creating computational means to make them. Focusing on one of the most vital spaces, the home, this study aims to draw attention to the act of ‘building a home’, in other words, ‘settling down’, which is still open to speculation in terms of architecture today. In order to question its reflections in the metaverse where virtual lands and houses are being sold, a two-part online workshop was conducted. The workshop included nine participants, who were mostly architecture students and graduates, and one with a social sciences background. The first part focused on theorizing settling down based on Heidegger’s related terms of ‘construction, dwelling and thinking’ and the alternative ways of settling down throughout history, and its virtualization. The discussions centered on ‘a new home’ that the metaverse enabled people to build through familiar things they identified with. In the second part, participants asked whether the metaverse was a tool or the goal by working in groups to create their own ways of settling down in virtual space via the things they identified with being at home the most. In line with the increasing communication, interaction, and common life in the metaverse, the participants questioned this new life and redefined the act of ‘settling down’, where both construction and dwelling are reconciled, through mind maps and representations made possible by different techniques such as artificial intelligence-based image generation, designing inside game environments, and collages. They considered the metaverse as a source of inspiration to experience different spaces, access memories, and show their identities to the world. |
| series |
ASCAAD |
| email |
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| full text |
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| references |
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| last changed |
2024/02/13 14:40 |
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