The Awesomeness of Virtual Properties
by Greg Balondo
A virtual property is a digital asset in 3D. It could be a plot of land, a house, designer furniture, a landscape element, a light fixture, a luxurious fashion item, or even a piece of your favorite jewelry — in digital form! With blockchain technology, it is now possible to access and own these unique entities as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). As this concept becomes ingrained in the public’s consciousness, one question emerges: How can it affect our lives and the practice of design-build and real estate in the future?
The Democratization of Design
We spend hours on Pinterest looking for the right peg for our dream home. We then scan through hundreds of profiles on Instagram to find the most suitable architect to plan it. Through marketplaces where architects and designers can sell their work, these tasks will soon be effortless. Future homeowners can just browse through architectural profiles and buy their preferred designs directly on these platforms.
Today, building a house is difficult and fraught with challenges — from budgeting and searching for the best contractor to managing the construction’s progress. Soon, erecting our dream home will be as easy as buying our favorite boots on Amazon. Design-build marketplaces will take care of the laborious processes; we can just sit conveniently on our favorite couch and stare at the computer screen as our dream home is built before our very eyes.
Collaboration is Key, Convenience is King
Traditional architectural and engineering firms will become obsolete in the next decade. With the booming internet economy and the pandemic’s effects on our lifestyle, it has become apparent that we can now collaborate with anyone, anytime, and anywhere through the web.
In a traditional firm, an architect who usually toils until the wee hours of the morning only gets a few dollars as compensation for projects that typically cost thousands (or even millions!). In this setup, working with uncollaborative and unproductive colleagues is also par for the course. Consequently, a project’s quality becomes compromised.
Architects in this situation will eventually be given a platform to showcase their work. They can sell their designs anywhere on the globe for a very competitive price. They can work with fully verified engineers and construction experts within the ecosystem. Moreover, they can choose the right collaborators for their projects.
Of Metaverses and Hopes of Romance
Soon, the metaverse market will be worth US$ 1 trillion as virtual entertainment rapidly grows. People will flock to this parallel world to realize their fantasies. Functional architecture, when mixed with otherworldly aesthetics, is going to make digital assets highly valuable. Here is where the expertise of design-build professionals becomes vital — making these spaces look and feel real.
In the coming years, all designs being sold in the physical world will also be available in the metaverse. Virtual property marketplaces will connect real-life spaces with hyper-realistic virtual realms. Our families and loved ones can acquire beautiful homes and estates in both worlds. Now, isn’t that exciting?
