Liberland is the first metaverse city designed by Zaha Hadid

Liberland Metaverse is the virtual city based on the Free Republic of Liberland – a real wolrd micronation claimed by Czech politician Vít Jedlička, that straddles disputed land between Croatia and Serbia. “While the Liberland Metaverse is meant to spearhead the development of Liberland as a libertarian micronation it will also function as free standing virtual reality realm in its own right,” explained Patrik Schumacher, of Zaha Hadid Architects.

Visitors can enter the “cyber-urban crypto incubator” via Mytaverse – a cloud-based platform that creates 3D environments – and once inside they can visit buildings designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, including a city hall, a plaza and exhibition centre, designed in studio’s typical style, characterized by sinuous forms. Schumacher designed the city using parametricism, a particular kind of software used to generate architectural forms.

Liberland is actually an unofficial state, not recognized by international organization, located between Croatia and Serbia on a plot of land that was unclaimed and uninhabited until 13 April 2015, when Jedlička proclaimed it as a country. It now has its own community, flag, coat of arms, national anthem and its cryptocurrency, called Liberland merit. People can buy plots of land and set up businesses in the virtual city and if they do so, they will also have a stake in the physical Liberland. 

Schumacher believes that the future of the internet is the metaverse, but that at the same time physical spaces will coexist alongside virtual ones, and the fusion of both worlds will continue to strengthen. “Virtual environments are as real as physical environments and social reality exists and continues seamlessly across this divide. […] Virtual and physical environments are ideally designed together,” he said.