Datascape. Speculative city for data to inhabit

JULY 2023
Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB)
          
   _What is the impact of data in the physical world?

_The accelerated growth of data in the Digital Era is profoundly affecting the physical environment, and its uncontrolled proliferation will continue to reshape and alter the landscape. However, these effects may not be immediately apparent.

   _Everything produced digitally also has physical consequences. But what are those consequences?

_As the dependence on digital technologies increases, it becomes important to consider the implications associated with data generation. That's why this research aims to investigate the current state of data production to understand its environmental implications, such as electronic waste, the use of land and sea for data center construction, and the energy consumption they require.

   _What is the future of the physical data landscape? Are data centers the new architectural icons?

_Through a historical review of architecture as a monument from the perspective of Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, and Steven Izenour in "Learning from Las Vegas" (1972), and Liam Young's theory about data centers as new architectural icons in his book "Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the post-anthropocene" (2019), the question is posed: What if data centers become cities solely for data inhabitation?

    _What could be the impact of data centers on the physical world?

_Datascape represents the evolution of data growth and the data center as a monument. It aims to explore and visually represent the impact of massive data production on the physical landscape by designing a Speculative city for data to inhabit, illustrating the potential implications of this impact in the future.