Reality isn't what is used to be. As the world moves increasingly from the real to the virtual, the question emerges, who do we want to be as humans? The amount of time spent on devices is taking more of our time from the real world as we 'fast forward' to the virtual future. As we transform our work, play, living, education, and retail lifestyle, so too must architecture react and redefine the very nature of our public and private spaces. The challenge of our time is to learn to navigate INBetween these multiple realities on the spectrum between the real and the virtual world. As we progressively accept the technological advances in medicine that enhance our bodies, society will also begin to accept moving into the experiential, three-dimensional space of the virtual METAVERSE. This book presents a three-year exploration, research, and case studies for expanding the tools of architecture for creating within this new reality for Living + Dying INBetween the Real and the Virtual World.

Where should they go? 70 million displaced refugees and asylum seekers with no passport, no money, and no worldly goods. In 380 BCE Plato wrote about the 'Ideal City,' but it wasn't until 1516 CE that Sir Thomas More invented the word, 'Utopia,' translated from Greek as 'good place,' that is in need of a new, contemporary interpretation. It is within the framework of utopia that the City of Refugees represents a place that transcends the fate of the refugee and the reason they were torn from their homeland and not given safe haven fleeing their country. It is a concept for a new city that welcomes these optimistic people looking for a place to be free from oppression. The University of Houston College of Architecture + Design with 135 students is proposing 4 cities on 4 continents as prototypes that represent a real utopia for housing the unprecedented migration of people moving across borders. This UN-sponsored, free economic zone for the 4 cities can be funded by small fractions of the defense budgets appropriated by the UN. The innovative cities create a platform for a new, multi-ethnic society based upon justice, tolerance, and economically viable with a net zero energy consumption within a sustainable environment. The new three-dimensional cities redefine the concept of streets by no longer needing cars creating a real utopia for those with no voice. The City of Refugees is a soft place to land that believes in the future.