I design for the metaverse : Mariana Cabugueira

Mariana talks about why she finally decided to leave Zaha Hadid architects to pursue a career in the metaverse. Today she is working with Wilder World and create unique and fascinating digital spaces

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[kunikopanda]

Marina's true voice is better than the ai enhanced voice. We can hear her accent more. The ai enhancer "normalizes" her English, making it sound more American (USA). Other than that, this was a fantastic video and subject matter. Please keep them coming

[chriszinelis]

Props to Marina for taking the leap of faith. To be honest, i can not see metaversse blowing up, meta is already struggling to have enough people online and involved, but hopefully it goes well for her and she gets that meta dolla.

[kruthikan]

Always love a video with Mariana in it! this gave a really good insight on stepping into the metaverse. Amazing stuff💯

[evanschwartz]

As a retired professional architect with 45 years of experience I have some serious concerns as to the validity of 'metaverse' architecture in general. First, is 'metaverse' really architecture in the traditional sense or just a bunch of computer generated fantasy ideas thought up for personal enjoyment - ie. look at what I can do! Second, isn't architecture really about actually building something with a site, building program, and real cost/time considerations? And third, isn't architecture actually about accomplishing the actual construction of a building with the support and involvement of many people? It's worth remembering 3/4 of the people on this planet live in inadequate or no housing at all. "Metaverse' is something we really don't need and it won't solve any real social problems facing our world today - period!

To my way of thinking 'metaverse' is an extremely self centered activity with little or no consideration for the 'real' world we happen live in. I can see how 'metaverse' attracts young people who are frustrated and fedup with working in established architectural firms. I know the drill - long hours and short on pay. However it's worth remembering training to be an architect doesn't end with graduation - it's just the beginning! Designing can be a glamorous activity but learning how to put a building together is a major part of being an architect and takes a great deal of time, thought, and patience.

Let's be honest, Marina is a very attractive women, and it certainly doesn't detract from her being a 'spokesperson' of sorts for 'metaverse'. Promoting her looks on YouTube and other internet venues certainly doesn''t hinder her personal cause. And lets not forget there's a lot of money to be made on the internet and she's right their promoting herself to the full extent possible. Without a promise of financial reward, I can't see her getting involved with 'metaverse' as a full time activity.

[jessicaT]

I believe that the metaverse offers an inclusive space for both licensed and unlicensed architectural designers. It is particularly exciting because self-taught architects have an opportunity to explore their designs and gain confidence in their imaginative abilities. The metaverse allows them to think outside the constraints of traditional architectural pedagogy and push the boundaries of what is possible. This level playing field provides a significant advantage, similar to what many other industries offer, fostering innovation and creativity across the architectural community.

[humbertogarciavasquez]

I am Jose Garcia and I live here in North Carolina, its really great that we have people like Mariana who dream of Architecture in a very different more modern technologically advanced way, very inspiring for Architects today, it shows why Animated design buildings have evolve so much in the past 10 years and why hollywood is now making so much money in recent graphic animated films specially those involving super heroes. Reality has a different outcome when it comes to Architecture, it takes more knowledge of materials and methods of construction as well as costs and built schedules to actually have something feasible to be design in real life. It would be wise for all these designer to give out lectures and teach their 3d abilities with the rest of the world, specially in Architecture, prepare project managers to actually render their projects to make them look real, that way everyone in the world will have a certain standard quality to construct and built something in real life.

[goldsand]

The ai voice helped with hearing her more clearly because there was less background noise. I appreciated it. And I feel like it tried to stay as close to her original voice as possible

[tadghg]

Does anyone know where to find the podcast where she mentioned how to get started in metaverse architecture in more detail?

[goldsand]

This video was amazing. I’m an architectural designer trying to break into the tech space and become a designer. I seem to be on the right track after watching this interview

[marianacabugueiracustodiod]

Thank you Rishabh, another one! We will comeback here in 2024 and giggle. Love it. And yeah, I will have to agree with the overall, no Ai in this case, prefer the OG for now. 😘

[hanineabiali]

Great podcast and happy to see more women join the Metaverse revolution. However while I salute Mariana for leaving Zaha Hadid as it is a very courageous move, unfortunately a lot of the info is wrong here and need correction, Firstly Unity is the actual free open source with a huge community and plenty of tutorials. and in comparison to what unity offers, unreal engine is limited, however for Archviz unreal engine is more powerful when it comes to graphics.

Not only the environment happens in the game play, everything does actually from the models to the materials to the testing, literally everything is built in the gameplay, and even if an "architectural designer" handed in a model designed in Rhino for example to the developer, this model will need to be optimized, this is where a Metaverse Architect come into play, because a Metaverse Architect knows how to design specifically for game engines and knows how to fix models so they are adapted to the limitations of the hardware that power the Metaverse like VR headsets (static meshes in number of polygons, texture size, materials, lightmaps resolutions, blueprints and the list goes on). On another note, Instead of Rhino, maya, grasshopper that you mentioned would work for game engines, metaverse Architects would use Blender and Cinema 4d instead which comes more handy when it comes to optimization which is a must in game engines to better maintain an X FPS for the game to run smoothly. Further more a Metaverse Architect should have a background in 3D UI and 3D UX design because we are not only designing buildings as in simple 3D Modeling, we are actually designing the experience in the virtual world.

The way Mariana described it was more of a 3d modeler just designing buildings with traditional architectural tools, which isn't really accurate there is so much work behind the title of a "Metaverse Architect" and In my opinion it is actually a full Pacakge of a (3D UX/UI designer, 3d game modeler, with a background knowledge in coding languages to know how to actually test designs with developers (who give logic to our designs) and work hand in hand with them to bring games or designs to life.

Still, a very bold and courageous move to leave Zaha Hadid! Good luck to Mariana!


Hanine Salman Abi-Ali
Metaverse Architect
Dubai, UAE

[alejandromaturana]

At the end, it all comes down to the fact that, as both of you mentioned, it is a complete new world. Architect have historically been at the forefront in the construction of societies, not only physically but also philosophically, by their impact of their designed spaces and infrastructures. We must all be aware that this two world are intrinsically dependent on each other, for good or bad, but will not get to see each other, as it also divides two visions of the productivist world we live in, as the metaverse will be constructed with the blood and sweat of a miserable working class, a working class that will not be needed in the metaverse, as the designer now will be an all-doing figure in the production of the spaces. Some will be attracted to the enormous spectrum of possibilities that the old world doesn't have, but all of this is segregating millions of people even more, a problem that academics and practitioners still struggle to tackle and that will endanger all of us in the long run, metaverse included... Helping in the construction of a 'new world' dependent on the misery of the people that will never even get the chance to even hear what the metaverse is, is a choice that should be taken with all the considerations that, i'm sure, Ms Cabuguiera understands and evaluate at their just measure. In conclusion, this is a matter of societal vision and as most of us watching your video's have skills and knowledge in the field of Architecture, this important topics shouldn't just be overlooked. Ms Cabugueira does what she does best, and we need this daredevils in order for history of mankind to evolve !
THIS IS NOT A CRITIQUE ! I WANT FELLOW ARCHITECT TO GRASP THE CHALLENGES AT STAKE !

[WeeDidi]

I like her passion and that is the main reason why I prefer her original voice. I’m interested in this matter so emotionally I prefer without AI parts but it is necessary to note the clearness of edited parts with AI

[mohammedmusaibshariff]

from the future, life is like the movie "Ready Player One"

[kishorkumar-rjrz]

The topic of metavese in creating a virtual world for people is a great initiative.Because in a way Architecture was a laxurious version of a human basic need which is shelter, But now due to damage that happend in the world via various reasons every design requirs an aspect of sustainability and now architecture has been added to a basic need in all construction, to design it in a sustainable way.

Secondly, i really like the concept of hybridation.
Since the world is damaged architects and urban planners can be keen on fixing the real world problems whereas people can explore all the technological advancements in the virtual world, also if the virtual world is active all the rawmaterials used except for the once used to keep the virtual world running and the ones used in restructuring the earth can be minimised hence adressing the real world problems. Which is a benifit for both sides.

Moreover, it creates more job opportunities for architects, which not only helps architects building metaworld also it creates opprtunites for architects in the realworld by diversifing the roles, which helps architects get back the integrity and nature of the role.

Evenmore virtual world can be a trial and error medium in adressing the real world problems.

[adeshgupta]

I'm an Architect and I'm being into Metaverse and the ground architecture as well. But I love designing in ground that makes more sense to me than in virtual. But I have been quit good in Metaverse projects which I worked on.
What you guys suggests, should I go for metaverse completely or the real physical architecture?

[paulttan]

The original version is more expressive, Mariana character, emotions and facial expressions comes through clearly. The AI version is clearer to understand linguistically but the expressions and emotions are lost. It is more controlled and restrained.

[PositiveEmo]

In our capitalist world it's almost unthinkable to go somewhere and not spend money. At the same time it's unthinkable to go somewhere in the virtual world to spend money. I'm curious to see how designers/architects handle this.

No one is thinking about web3 being a 1:1 of the real world in terms of building models, is this true for the social spaces as well?

[irfanafridi]

That's was a great topic and very helpful 👍👏💙, the original sound is better not the AI one.

[UHStudio]

Great conversation and insight into architecture and design into web3 👍👍 Thank you. By the way it's an AI voice enhancement not a replacement, and it's much better, as it cancels out all the echo and makes it easier to understand. It should be possible to dial the enhancement up and down