Virtual cities designed as part of the course
Dezact, UK together with LAC, China, Design Futures Foundation, USA & Avani Institute, India are organizing a series of online courses for designing cities in the virtual world
London (UK), June 2: A unique 3 week long online course has been launched for design students in Asia which is focused on designing cities and entertainment venues in the metaverse. Dezact, UK, in collaboration with LAC, China, Design Futures Foundation (DFF), USA & Avani Institute of Design, India, has launched the online course titled ‘MetaPlay 2.0’ to promote the potential and viability of emerging technologies like parametric design & modeling tools, and augmented reality/ virtual reality tools.
MetaPlay is set to be a micro design studio equipping the participants with actionable digital and parametric modeling skills and exposure to the game engines and CGI tools within the AEC industry. The workshop will explore the concept of multi-dimensional spaces and experiences in architecture. MetaPlay 2.0 continues the research for designing future social and leisure experiences in virtual environments and extends the scope of research exploring time as a dimension with a focus on spatial transformability and programmable matters. The workshop will also explore a variety of other topics such as potential changes of architectural design process, material organization, tectonics, spatial experiences and public perception of a built environment as part of a design project. MetaPlay 2.0 aims at investigating the changing mode of architectural production using disrupted technologies such as AI, generative design, automation, and augmented reality / virtual reality tools to explore and rethink built environment design that is digitally conceived and experienced. This is the second course in a series of international courses that are going to be conducted over the duration of this year.
At MetaPlay, participants will learn hands-on skills on digital world-building directly from industry experts. The list of the instructors includes names like Akshay Goyal (Founder of Tron Labs and Partner at Architron Group), Ping-Hsiang Chen (Senior Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects), Dimitar Pouchnikov (HOK Architects), Cherylene M. Shangpliang (Designer at Zaha Hadid Architects, London), Zehao Qin (Design Systems Analyst in Applied Research + Development (ARD) group at Foster + Partners, London) and Jiahao Syu (Foster and Partners). In addition, at the end of the 6-day workshop, students are expected to design and build architectural scale projects within a virtual environment. Students from multiple countries are slated to join this global design workshop and by participating in the course, the students will not only receive a behind the scenes exposure of how to create entertainment venues for metaverse and crypto futures but will also be certified as Metaverse Designers. 
Ping-Hsiang Chen, Director and Co Founder of Dezact London said “Creative industries such as architecture and design involve a core process based in iterating hundreds of ideas before presenting a final idea in front of a client. In the end this version may not be understood correctly due to limited graphical capabilities of the designer or lack of technical awareness of a client. Metaverse is a great platform for such design ideas to be experienced and opens up wider opportunities for projects that have great social, economic and functional potential. Metaverse not only helps the creative industry to grow, but at the same time the effort designers put into projects can potentially be compensated in unique and creative ways. In this context MetaPlay workshop series aims to address future spatial design and engagement in conjunction with psychological aspects of a human and experiences in a new type of virtual space.”
As the founders of LAC, Jeffery Lee explains, “The world is witnessing a new wave of metaverse with the breakthroughs and innovations in internet and hardware technology. Technologies such as NFT, virtual spaces, metaverse platforms and AR and VR are increasingly being promoted by the Chinese government, internet giants and advanced architecture firms coincidentally. Together with DEZACT, DFF and Avani Institute of Design, LAC ‘Meta Play’ online workshop brings such future opportunities for Chinese students to explore in this domain from an international perspective.”
Talking about this unique workshop, Akshay Goyal, the Co Founder of Design Future Foundation (DFF) and Dezact, shares, “Post Covid, the Web 3.0 revolution has triggered an immense interest in smart contracts, virtual metaverse platforms and all things NFT. Over the next decade, people will seek more and more immersive virtual experiences, pushing consumers and brands into the Metaverse. Early pioneers include platforms like Sandbox and decentraland and the course expects to trigger this conversation with the virtual designers and developers of this future.”
DEZACT is a London based organization created to speculate and investigate the changing modes of conception, production and consumption of urban space in the post digital era. It operates at the disciplinary intersection of art, architecture, new media and urban studies. It brings together artists, designers and educators to participate in a forward-looking debate on the position of technology in art, architecture and culture.
LAC (Linking Academy Creation) is a design organization founded in 2014 in Shanghai, China, with branches in Beijing, Hangzhou and Wuhan. It has expertise in developing and connecting educational resources in the fields of architecture, landscape and interaction design. It aims to be the leading international platform for design education, academic exchange and design practice.
Design Future Foundation (DFF) is a non-profit organization that believes in the potential of design in solving global problems and creating a massive impact in our rapidly changing world. Operating at the intersection of design & emerging technology, DFF engages with organisations, academia and professionals to explore the impact of design beyond its bracketed boundaries.
Now, Dezact, UK has tied hands with LAC, China, DFF, USA & Avani Institute of Design, India, on a mission to assist developers and architects in the journey into the Metaverse of the future.
For More information: https://www.dezact.org/metaplay2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designfuturesfoundation
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Vijay Singh
