Sometimes everything just works out.
We have entered a period when the consequences of global climate change are glaringly apparent, and we know that buildings and the other components of the built environment are major contributors to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, both from the construction and operation of buildings.
At the same time, we have the so-called Starchitect system, a morass of bloated egos, bad behavior, and metaphorical fiddling while Rome (i.e. the planet) burns.
Is there a solution? Yes—send the Starchitects to the Metaverse! Patrik Schumacher, for one, seems excited about the possibilities. Why bother with the problems of the real world when you can jump into the boundless Metaverse? (Just beware those deadly frisbees, wall-building motorcycles, and—if you remember the video game—the endlessly multiplying spiders.)
Personally, I don’t understand the siren song of the Metaverse. The place we actually live in—you know, the universe, including our little planet—is pretty wonderful, if you open your eyes and see it. Moreover, there are dangers in being untethered from reality: see the Otherworld series by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller for an example of human cost of a rancid alternate reality.
Then there is all of the electricity needed to power the Metaverse. After all, Bitcoin uses more electricity than the entire country of New Zealand. Imagine the kWh needed to power all of those starchitect egos?
