Ownplay, a Web 3.0 start-up, asked us to explore ways to create unique visuals of specific NYC buildings to be used as part of a metaverse, Monopoly-style game. The process had to deal with both design and technical challenges that would allow for a uniform look that could be produced at scale at a reasonable cost. In addition, each building needed a “scene” around it to complete the visual and connect it to the eventual game.

We started by selecting the most common and recognizable architectural styles in NYC, such as brownstones, “walk-ups”, loft buildings, pre-war and modern apartment buildings, etc. Then, we mapped out potential buildings to pilot for each style and identified the most used architectural elements in each one. Those elements were then given a unified design update and created as 3D objects to be used as a modular system when recreating additional buildings of the same style. Simultaneously, we also gathered and redesigned assets for the surrounding environment, which were then generated randomly (according to logical combinations) to create a unique visual for each address.