How Architects Can Make Money in the Metaverse.
How architecture is entering it’s most exciting time in history, and how you can be a part of it.
11 minute read.
I truly believe there has never been a more exciting time for architects. The creation of the metaverse (and possibly multiple other meta/multiverses) will allow creative professionals to have new ways to produce income that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. Sites such as Earth2.io, an exact digital replica of planet earth, are already being flooded with thousands of enthusiasts eager to buy parcels of digital land, creating an immense amount of opportunity that’s waiting to be explored.
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is the crossroads between our physical world and the digital world. The metaverse is the place we will most likely inhabit in the near future, where we will have a digital representation of our physical lives. This digital representation might not be related to we are in our physical form, but will most likely represent how we want to be perceived digitally. Advancements in social technologies and internet speeds are allowing ecosystems to be created that simply did not exist a decade or two ago. Technologies such as VR, AR, and the blockchain, are all being developed simultaneously.
The simulatenous development and interaction of these technologies is what’s proving to be interesting. As time passes, our digital world will increasingly become more and more important, probably surpassing our physical one. With COVID, we have learned to work from home and rely more heavily on things such as ZOOM meetings. These meetings will soon take place in more immersive realities, due to the need of them. Architects can be the first to take advantage of these opportunities and be the creators of these worlds. Design environments that uplift digital interactions. Shape the world without the need and worry of things such as gravity, or budget constraints. The possibilities are endless for creative professionals, so let us talk about a few exciting opportunities.
Simple Ways for Architects to Monetize in the Metaverse.
Virtual Art
Architects are incredible at representing their designs through photo-realistic images. Programs such as Lumion, 3Ds Max, Unreal Engine, allow different design professionals to create beautiful renderings of their ideas.
But think about it. How many times have you produced beautiful renderings of projects that you know will never get built, and are now just taking space in your computer? Architecture is sometimes considered a profession that’s an idea wasteland. During competitions, dozens of firms create beautiful projects that will never be built due to the nature of competitions themselves. The Metaverse solves this problem by creating opportunity for unbuilt projects like these.
Since architecture itself is considered an art, your designs technically can be displayed in the multiverse. Art is currently being sold in the form of NFTs, which stand for Non Fungible Tokens. If you’d like to know more about this, we have recently written a post where we’ve written extensively about the possibilities NFTs bring to the architectural community. A rendering could be an NFT, a 3D object, a hyper-realistic video. Basically, any sort of digital file can be converted into an NFT for you to share with the world and profit from it. The way you sell them is through different NFT marketplaces. Some of the most popular are OpenSea, Axie, and Nifty.
If you’d like to know more about how you can sell your renderings and designs as NFTs, send us an email at info@doceds.com and we’ll guide you through the exact process we’ve used to be able to sell our designs as art.
Real Estate in The Metaverse
Another great option could be investing in the metaverse real estate. Multiple multiverses are being developed as we speak. Some of these don’t have intrinsic value, for now. Basically people are buying parcels of land in the hopes that the price will go up somewhere along the future. Some other projects allow people to build applications, build real estate, and even rent out their virtual land to other users in exchange for crypto. Some of the Virtual Real Estate popular platforms currently operating are Sandbox and Decentraland.
If you are able to acquire parcels of land in high demand, there is a big possibility these will increase in price in the future. The secret here is to do proper research when it comes to what metaverse you’re investing in. Thinigs to look at when looking at different metaverses:
What’s the technology behind it?
Does it allow me to build apps/content on top of it?
What does its roadmap say about the future of where the ecosystem is heading?
Do research on sites such as Discord, Reddit, Twitter. Analyze what the community is saying.
Design Applications and Games
Architects are already professionals savy in technology. In school, we had to learn how to become proficient in dozens of 3D modeling and graphic design softwares. Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign. You name it. What is we could take some of the skills we learned and apply them to the digital world?
Currently, there is a need for creative professionals to develop immersive VR / AR realities for different ecosystems. We are already seeing how architects are using the design skills they’ve learned in Unreal Engine, and creating amazing hyper-realistic realities for the Oculus VR headset. Architects are also being employed as consultants when designing futuristic/retro digital worlds. Being part of a project such as this, or even creating one from the ground up, will provide an incredible opportunity to create passive income for designers all around the globe. Here is a great tutorial on how to get started on creating digital VR worlds, no experience needed.
Architecture has usually always being tied up to hours put in = money received. The metaverse disrupts this, and creates the possibility of multiple income streams from multiple digital realities. Architects are inherently curious and creative professionals, and ecosystems such as the multiverse are the perfect junctions for these qualities to merge and fully be explored.
Become a Niche Architectural Designer Focusing Exclusively on Metaverse Design
Recently, a house called “The Mars House” sold for over $500,000 to a Toronto buyer in an NFT format. It has never been built and it exists only in its digital format. The house was designed by Krista Krin, a digital artist, and can be uploaded to the metaverse for the buyer to upload and display its virtual art or inhabit in the metaverse.
Though this option seems to be the one farthest away from what’s currently possible, becoming a niche architectural designer in the metaverse is the option I’m the most excited about. We all know that one of the best ways to become successful at something is to be among one of the early adopters. The benefits and opportunities of being recognized within a year or two as an architecture authotiry within the metaverse are incalculable. The current crypto world is in the billions of dollars. The NFT marketplace is growing at an incredible pace. Crypto enthusiasts will definitely want to inhabit spaces that reflect their wealth, their digital status, and what they represent in the metaverse. This is where you can come.
I believe the future of architecture in the metaverse will vastly differ from what we are used to doing in the physical world. Designing great homes (and/or dwellings0 won’t be about how ‘realistic’ they look. I believe things such as function won’t even be considered, since bathrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, etc, are obsolete in a digital world. The physical constraints we deal with in our world don’t exist in the metaverse, so form doesn’t have to adhere to anything. In the metaverse, true and unbounded creativity will be explored. It’s the place where creativity truly can be displayed since budgets don’t exist, gravity can’t be found, and projects don’t take years to complete. No zoning laws, no complicated clients to adhere to.
In short, I believe the metaverse will provide the biggest economic opportunity the world has ever seen. Our lives are already digital. We exist through our phones, we communicate through text messages and calls. We photograph our world through the cameras in our smartphones. We learn content through youtube and other educational platforms. All of this is happening in a 2D constricted world. An immersive metaverse experience is the next step bound to happen. Though I believe we won’t fully immerse ourselves as avatars in the metaverse, a mix between the physical and digital world (augmented mixed reality) will be the industry that will succeed. We are still ways to go, but the future for architects is exciting. I like to believe we will be the shapers of this world, if we take advantage of the opportunity that’s in front of us.