Gulf Construction Online - Dewan unveils region’s first architectural NFT

Architecture & Design

Babel 4.0 tower is an infinite ramp suitable for various sensorial travel experiences.

Dewan unveils region’s first architectural NFT

01 February 2022

Dewan Architects + Engineers has unveiled the first architecturally-inspired non-fungible token (NFT) from the Middle East known as Babel 4.0. The culturally positive, forward-thinking and inclusive non-fungible token aims to provide a futuristic experience for architects and designers in the metaverse.

The Babel 4.0 NFT has been created as a reinterpretation of the mythical Tower of Babel. It is not a physical building and intentionally opposes style, location, culture and budget but is a blank canvas for hybrid cultures, says the Dubai-based architectural and engineering design.

“Our plan is to launch this NFT collection which will encourage academia, government bodies, architects, engineers, universities, material and product producers and the community to interact and exchange ideas in a virtual world,” says Ammar Al Assam, CEO of Dewan Architects.

Babel 4.0 NFT has been created as a reinterpretation of the mythical Tower of Babel.

Babel 4.0, a formal adaptation and interpretation of life today, is a modern metaverse where tower silos are created to provide a platform that connects digital communities to promote the overall greater good and collective advancement of its members.

It comprises an infinitely propagating ‘helix’ that encourages visitors to explore the entire community tower. Visitors start their journey at the arrival communal space where they make connections and initial contact with others. Travelling anticlockwise, visitors ascend to exhibition and museum levels where they can exhibit their NFTs in a virtual museum. The public exhibition spaces are reserved for the members, the 100 initial invited ones, and could be extended later.

Circular movement within Babel constantly reinforces the sense of community, says the practice. The tower is an infinite ramp suitable for various sensorial travel experiences. Stairs, slides and cables serve as shortcuts whilst elevator and teleportation transport respond effectively to long-distance journeys. The beautiful gardens just below parliament connect Babel 4.0 to the real world. The original Tower of Babel had 100 gates; 25 on each side.

Interestingly, Babel 4.0 has no owners. The plots are occupied by members eager to express their culture and share their knowledge and relies solely on autonomous dialogue and exchange between its members. Visitors can dictate how long they stay in the tower by accessing and utilising various time zones and shortcuts. Babel has its own parliament and speaking corner where members discuss and share their thoughts. The information discussed and lessons learned can be used within the metaverse but also in the real world.

The extraordinary non-profit community provides architects, designers, project managers and suppliers an inspiring space to connect from around the world.

Dewan intends to create 100 NFTs as part of the Babel 4.0 collection, which will be donated to prominent academics and leaders in the fields of design and architecture. These NFTs can be used and exchanged for plots in the tower to access various exhibition or presentation spaces.

“Metaverse architecture is the logical next step for Dewan, which is developing a dedicated design research lab to support investors and virtual developers entering the metaverse. As a firm, Dewan is keen to bring emotion, purpose, and the experiential qualities of space to designs in the virtual world.

“By introducing various new elements into the traditional field of architecture such as gaming, hardware developers, coders, VFX specialists, and storytellers, Dewan aims to bridge the gap in today’s architectural industry; the physical and the metaphysical. These desirable spaces share attributes with physical reality, as such, avatars have human appeal and cannot pass through each other; this affords users a deeper sense of immersion into Babel 4.0. It’s likely that future generations will use this digital infrastructure to allow them to engage in problem solving and resolution practices that previously could not have been considered,” says Al Assam.

Dewan Architects + Engineers is recognised as one of the leading firms responsible for positively contributing to the design sector across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Africa and South East Asia. Dewan has offices in the UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Spain and most recently, Egypt.