Danish Architecture Studio BIG Designs Viceverse in The Metaverse

Going BIG in the Metaverse

Vice Media Group, an American-Canadian digital media corporation, has teamed up with Danish practise BIG to create a new virtual headquarters in the metaverse.

The new office building, dubbed Viceverse, is housed on the Decentraland platform and will act as the agency's virtual innovation lab, allowing clients to experiment with Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), Decentralised Autonomous Organizations (DAO), and Web 3.0.

The idea

According to Campaign Live UK, Morten Grubak is the brains behind the project's moniker, which is administered by Virtue Futures, the innovation branch of Vice Media Group's creative cultural firm, Virtue. Grubak is the project's worldwide executive creative director of innovation.

Although Bjarke Ingels Group has not yet revealed specifics on the Viceverse, Grubak told Campaign that "It seemed natural to create an area for ourselves where we could allow clients and colleagues to test the waters without committing to a large-scale campaign. That is why we established an office."

"It's not just about going in there and planting a flag," Grubak said. "We wanted to do it in style with aesthetics and concepts while designing, which is why we partnered with BIG."

"Viceverse aspires to establish an environment conducive to the formation of communities and the fusion of subcultures."

The Design in detail

BIG's Viceverse headquarters is shaped in an undulating manner, with continuous lines and big cut-out holes dominating the structure. A meandering hidden tunnel leads guests to the top levels, which have a total of 12 storeys.

Visitors are greeted on the first level by an NFT gallery, while the higher floors are used for meetings, presentations, and collaboration with staff to experiment with the metaworld.

"It felt natural for us to construct in an area characterised by the formation of communities and the fusion of subcultures. For us, functionality is paramount, as is the ability to create an organic setting in which we can continually adapt "Grubak was also introduced.

"We're going to start with two levels, plus a hidden one. And then, as the project progresses, we may add a new storey, since the structure is meant to be 12 stories tall."

"It is by far the most visually stunning open metaverse platform, despite the fact that it still appears like a PlayStation One game," Grubak concluded.

Why Decentraland?

Vice Group chose the Decentraland platform for a variety of reasons. Decentraland, being an open source platform, enables anybody who purchases fresh land to construct and experiment with the metaworld. Additionally, the platform will serve as a "digital launchpad," allowing for an examination of the "sociology of digital communities."

According to Chris Garbutt, Virtue's new co-president and chief creative officer, it's critical that Vice Media Group was active in the metaverse's infancy.

Garbutt stressed the need of companies being "within the culture of the future" through being present in the metaverse.

Major brands Buying Land in the Metaverse

Roar, a Dubai-based interior design company, also bought two plots of digital property earlier this year for a new showroom in Decentraland.

Additionally, VoxelArchitects, a group of artists concerned about virtual art, virtual reality, and blockchain technology, is developing metaverse buildings for organisations such as Sotheby's, ConsenSys, and Real Vision.

Other major brands that have bought land in the metaverse include Video games and home computing pioneer Atari, Electronics maker Samsung, Sporting goods giant Adidas, International accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York-based Accounting firm Prager Metis International LLC