A
Gone with the Cloud
Navn
Laura Polkmane
Uddannelsesgrad
Kandidat
Fagfelt
Arkitektur
Institut
Bygningskunst, By og Landskab
Program
Urbanism and Societal Change
År
2024
Gone with the Cloud -
Future applications of the Cloud’s territorial expansion
“The most salient characteristic of technology in the modern world is the degree to which most technology is not salient for most people, most of the time. Our civilizations fundamentally depend on them, yet we notice them mainly when they fail, which they rarely do."
- Paul Edwards “Infrastructure and Modernity: Scales of Force, Time, and Social Organization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems"
The world is immersed in an abundance of data, 90 % of the world’s data has been generated within the past few years. Our infosphere is being profoundly shaped by the internet, Artificial Intelligence, and the metaverse. However, this implies a spatial dimension. As data grows the global demand for data storage infrastructure grows with it, leading to the emergence of hyperscale data centers as a growing architectural typology. The typology intersects with social, political, and economic layers, and that functioning is highly dependent on extreme energy and water consumption, land occupation, and large CO2 emissions.
Simultaneously Denmark is recognizing the economic potential of hyperscale data centers. Future predictions suggest building nine hyperscale data facilities by the year 2040, which will account for 22% of Denmark’s national energy use. Meanwhile, digital data production is outpacing the scalability of today’s storage solutions. In this context, molecular and biological data storage are seen as promising methods for addressing deficiencies observed in the current storage paradigms.
Yet contemporary models of data architecture continue to expand, and hyperscale continues to occupy vast quadrants of land and resources, thus one begins to question the pending obsolescence of the existing data infrastructure, and whether there should be an alternative protocol for the future applications of data territorial expansion.
Apple hyperscale data center’s ongoing expansion in Viborg is used as a lens to examine alternative configurations of data architecture space. By addressing existing data center systems and various microclimates within data spaces, a new typology emerges that co-locates data spaces with new modes of agricultural spaces, promoting cohabitation and the need to think about post-data center use.
Societal theme:
Why data matters
It is not uncommon to imagine our data residing in the atmospheric cloud, as convenient marketing metaphors render a seemingly effortless system of data storage. However, our data-penetrated existence depends on architecture that is characterized by predominant anonymity, often hiding behind black-boxed building typologies far away from its end users. With that, the analogous map tries to visualize the many layers of the life cycle of data.
Layers of our infosphere
Situating the scope:
Understanding business as usual
A key part of the project scope was to understand what 'business as usual' would mean in the context of the site. Typically, this would involve using tabula rasa development methods and continuing to emit excess waste heat, all while end users of the technology remain unaware that their data resides in Viborg. The project sought to reverse these typical steps and use them as guiding principles for new alternative data space.
Key project statement:
Seeing context as an opportunity &
Understanding agents of change
Key project principles focused on shifting away from the planned expansion model of repeating the same typology, advocating instead for an alternative approach that emphasizes conscious resource use and post-data use. Furthermore, the project underscored the need to consider data typology as a hyper-contextual development that adapts to different site uses, thereby highlighting the necessity to demystify the currently anonymous typology.
Context shares two key agents of change: Adjacent to the apple hyperscale is the Viborg University campus that’s about to expand, key typologies the campus wants to introduce are greenhouses for their plant and agriculture research, moreover adjacent to the apple hyper-scale are many farmlands, lots of which are low-lying soil areas, what this means is that these areas have a high potential to be rewetted in the future to store atmospheric carbon and become wetlands, ultimately highlighting the need to change our current agriculture practices. Knowing these two agents of change and the fact that data space needs to expand, project purposes to imagine co-locating these spaces and looking through agriculture and research as a lens of opportunity.
Understanding existing data center:
working towards alternative data configuration space
Making of the masterplan:
Project of Six Acts
The six acts of the master plan are defined by two main orders. The first discusses the need to respond to the existing context of the site with the process of capturing the excess waste heat from the hyperscale, while the second introduces a way to expand the data space while building upon the natural systems and resources of the site. In the part where there is no conflict with the natural system, a new data space is introduced. Data space that co-locates data storage with new modes of agricultural space.
Operating in a mode of Infrastructural Data Agriculture:
Spaces of New Data Ecologies
Most data centers follow a standardized layout based on a grid structure of raised floor tiles measuring 60 by 60 cm. These tiles effectively partition the area into distinct sections: one below the floor for network, ventilation, and water distribution systems, and one above for data-related components, such as server racks. The arrangement of data server racks creates two distinct pathways known as hot aisles and cold aisles. A cold aisle represents an enclosed space characterized by a consistent temperature, designed primarily to facilitate the cooling of data servers. In contrast, the hot aisle is an open area through which the heated air generated by the servers circulates. The varying temperatures distributed by these aisles highlight a distinction in their functionality. Despite the efficiency of the data storage system employed, it is crucial to acknowledge its significant drawbacks in terms of water, energy, and heat wastage within these aisles. An integral aspect of the project was to comprehend how to effectively manage the surplus resources within the data center, aiming to reconfigure it in a more sustainable and contextually mindful manner. The concept of data ecologies endeavors to showcase potential synergies between agriculture and data infrastructure, leveraging the generated heat and resources to innovate new approaches to agriculture practices.
New data typology
Project masterplan proposal
ACT III:
Capturing the excess heat
The third Act builds upon the need to capture the excess waste heat that the existing hyperscale emits. The project proposes a typology of an offset, given typology revolves around the existing hyperscale data center structure and traps the heat within the in-between space. The given new offset typology tries to reuse the elements of the existing data center, and curate the heat to allow different ecologies to be formed within the in-between greenhouse. It highlights the need to think about the design as something ever-changing, hence the need to be easy to assemble/disassemble, lastly, the third Act tried to evoke debate about the need to visually showcase the existing closed-off data center.
ACT III: Capturing existing waste heat
ACT III: Capturing existing waste heat
ACT IV:
Building upon the natural systems
The fourth Act restores the original water pathway, currently confined to groundwater conditions, facilitating water accumulation in catchment areas. This not only supports wetland formation in low-lying soil regions but also enables the movement of flora and fauna, fostering a new ecology. Moreover, it expands the data capacity in non-conflicting zones with natural systems, and introduces a public space near the watercourse.
ACT IV: Building upong the natural flows
ACT IV: Building upon natural resources
ACT V:
Expanding the data space
The fifth Act of the project expands the data space by introducing an agriculture research cluster to accommodate the needs of the growing AU Viborg campus, it introduces the two key aisle ecologies, their distribution and washing facilities. The second cluster of the masterplan introduces industrial agriculture data space, highlighting the need to be closer to the main service loops and adjacent infrastructure network.
ACT V: Expanding the data space
ACT V: Expanding the data space
ACT V: Expanding the data space
ACT V: Expanding the data space
ACT VI:
Into obsolescence
The final Act of the project discusses the post-data scenario and the future time in which data will be stored in a molecular form. This Act presents a re-use system that enables the transition of data space into a conditioned setting for ongoing agricultural purposes. Focusing on specific components, the phase recommends utilizing server racks and cabling elements as connection and plant storage systems. Furthermore, one can envision data spaces becoming part of the public domain, with data concealed within tree cells or wetland water, transforming storage into an immersive experience.
ACT VI: Into Obsolescence
ACT VI: Into obsolescence
Catalog of Change:
Understanding the re-use of data spaces
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