Metrotopia Metaverse
at the Chicago Biennial
Type
Professional
Work
Description
Metrotopia is a virtual city and creative hub by Zaha Hadid Architects, advancing global collaboration in computational and generative design. Debuting at the Chicago Biennial, it serves as both an exhibition and an interactive research lab, uniting leading architects worldwide to showcase, debate, and push the boundaries of computational design. Powered by Unreal Engine, it reimagines digital architecture and shared creative spaces.
Authors
Zaha Hadid Architects
Role
As part of the Computational Design Research Group (CODE), I was in charge of liasing with the exhibitors, rationalizing and optimizing their digital geometries, and designing their interactive exhibition.
Years
2023
Venue
Chicago Biennial
Contributing Exhibitors
MAD Architects
Coop Himmelb(l)au
Sou Fujimoto Architects ​
EcoLogicStudio
Minimaforms
OMA
UNStudio
Archi-Union Architects
Morphosis
LAVA
SCI-Arc Faculty
Zaha Hadid Architects


Museum & Event Venue
Serving as both a museum and event space, the central building houses interactive computational design exhibits, an atrium and auditorium for conferences and events, and a NFT gallery. This hub fosters collaboration and discussion, advancing the discourse in computational design.

Multi-Author Digital City
This virtual cityscape was collaboratively designed by leading architecture studios across the world. The central museum exhibits the buildings that surround it, creating an inmersive multi-scalar environment. Altogether, the project is a global collaboration in digital urban planning.

Interactive Exhibits
With ineractive 3D models and videos, a message and interaction system, and a teleportation feature allowing users to experience the exhibited architectural works at scale, Metrotopia is positioned as a pioneering platform in inmersive digital architecture.

NFTism
A virtual gallery exploring architecture and social interaction in the metaverse. Debuting at Art Basel Miami Beach, it integrates MMO technologies to create immersive spaces, showcasing the intersection of digital art and architecture.

The Making Of
Metrotopia is a multiplayer virtual environment constructed using Unreal Engine 5. The geometries were rationalized and optimized parametrically with Grasshopper scripts and C++ workflows by ZHA CODE for multiplayer real-time rendering.
