Economies of Joy: The Space for Web3
Economy – the word, the idea – has become synonymous with injustice, imbalance and inevitability. But there are countercurrents, and they matter for the future of the built environment.
Over the course of 2022, The Site Magazine is focusing on the theme Economies of Joy. We are exploring new economic modalities through the lens of the built environment; the design, production and inhabitation of the physical world. As a part of this exploration, The Site Magazine is publishing a special, digital/print hybrid issue and activating Web3 experiments.
Web2.0 has become a landscape of walled gardens, where big players get bigger by controlling flows of value; swelling until they constitute the entirety of digital experience. Web3 is an idea for the next iteration of the internet, decentralized through the use of blockchain and token-based economics. The new net will allow for the unmediated transfer of value between parties that want to interact online, enabling new opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration and direct ownership over the actions, interactions, and artifacts that exist online.
This special issue will explore how new token-enabled economic systems and virtual worlds, enabled by Web3, are shaping the way we occupy space to live, work, and play. The issue is also active, we will be hosting a live NFT marketplace and invite contributors to sell content or conduct experiments related to the representation or design of the built environment.
… We are interested in how decentralized technologies are rewiring the hardware of our society.
… We are interested in how real estate property markets will perform when property assets are deeded on a public ledger, or when the real estate is on virtual land, or when server farms become more lucrative than agricultural ones.
… We are interested in how Web3 offers designers new ways to create meaningful economic fantasies and realities that precede, coexist with, or emerge from physical spaces and architectural products.
… We are interested in tools for decentralized governance and tools that solve systemic coordination issues.
… We are interested in digital currencies and digital asset.
… We are interested in what life will be like in virtual ‘verses.
We are looking for contributions in three forms:
Essays:
Critical perspectives on web3, decentralized technologies, crypto, the metaverse, NFTs, and anything related to blockchain and the built environment. Essays will ideally address the role that these technologies play in economic and/or social terms. We are especially interested in critical perspectives on web3 as a new designed reality and/or fantasy.
Use Cases:
Applied examples or possible applications for the technology in the design space. These do not need to be specifically related to architecture, construction, or real estate, but should show how design enables, empowers, and brings joy to individuals and communities around the world.
NFT Projects:
An unlimited number of architecture and design projects to be minted on the first-ever NFT marketplace for architecture and design. NFTs should be single images/drawings (JPG/PNG Files) of very high resolution or short animations (MP4 files). NFTs will be minted and listed at no cost to the creator. The creator will be entitled to 100% of the profit.