Vienna-based architecture studio IHEARTBLOB has won the 6th edition of TAB 2022 Installation Programme Competition with "Fungible Non-Fungible", the first ever blockchain-funded pavilion.

The aim of the Installation Competition is to challenge emerging architectural talents to design an experimental timber installation in front of the Museum of Estonian Architecture, in the heart of Tallinn. 

The project focuses on the concept of slowness, aligning with TAB 2022’s main theme: “Edible. Or, the Architecture of Metabolism”.

Previously Simulaa and Natalie Alima's proposal was announced as the winner, however, the organizing committee of TAB 2022 announced that "due to unforeseen circumstances, Simulaa had to resign from the contest."

IHEARTBLOB completely re-thinks the requirements of the pavilion by presenting a new decentralized and systematic approach towards architectural design, fabrication and funding in which the community are both designers and investors contributing to an emergent structure that evolves and grows over time.

In their proposal, the winning studio set forth a new role for the architect - no longer the ‘Master Builder’ of The Fountainhead - but rather one of a system designer who weaves together innovative technologies to empower communities and enable local craftsmanship through the usage of blockchain, specifically the emergence of Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”), and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”).    

This project would be the first ever blockchain-funded architecture initiative. It would serve as a test for the new decentralized architectural design model, which could generate works that are more reflective of community and environmental awareness. The outcomes are physical-digital hybrids that balance ‘slower’ constantly evolving physical components with real-time reactive digital updates.

The integration of such technologies enable the design of a pavilion that evolves and grows both physically and digitally. 

Furthermore IHEARTBLOB, rather than designing architecture elements themselves, have built an NFT generative tool in which individuals can design and “mint” - the process of creating and authenticating digital ownership - their own objects. 

As part of their NFT generative tool, a parametric setup is provided for users to design within constraints (e.g. grid systems, predefined interlocking components, timber materiality, etc.). 

The initial minting fee can therefore be calculated to cover the budgeted costs of material and overheads (labour, fabrication, etc.) and a physical object manifests from digital design. In essence, every NFT minted by their tool funds a physical twin that is used in the pavilion. 

The digital objects can then be sold, by the owners, on secondary marketplaces as a way for the community designers to generate returns on their design/investment.  

The result is a pavilion composed of unique parts each with different designers and owners, and ultimately reflective of a broader community demand and aesthetic sentiment.

The application for designing a piece will go online from 1 May and the platform will be open until 1 July, when construction is set to begin. The installation will be built in July and August 2022 in the lively pedestrian green area facing the Museum of Estonian Architecture and will open to the public during the TAB 2022 Opening Week on 7 September, 2022. 

The structure will remain in place until the next edition of the event in 2024.

All the projects by Stage II participants will be displayed at the TAB Installation Programme exhibition, and published on the TAB 2022 website and in the catalogue.

Project facts

Fungible Non-Fungible design: IHEARTBLOB

Fungible Non-Fungible time frame:  July - August - construction
7 September 2022 - opening

Tallin Architecture Biennale TAB 2022:  "Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism"

Opening Week dates:
September 7th - 11th, 2022
September 7th - October 31st, 2022

Head Curator: Lydia Kallipoliti, Areti Markopoulou (USA, Spain)
Production: Eve Arpo, Anna Lindpere (Estonian Centre for Architecture)

Main Partners:
Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Association of Architects, Museum of Estonian Architecture, Enterprise Estonia. 

All images courtesy of IHEARTBLOB.

> via TAB 2022