Tag: data-center | ArchDaily

Rethinking Architecture at the Scale of Planetary Systems

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Architecture has traditionally been described as a discipline concerned with space, form, and material presence. Yet this understanding becomes increasingly limited when confronted with the conditions that shape contemporary construction. Buildings no longer emerge from a stable relationship between site, program, and material. Instead, they are produced within a dense web of technological systems that operate across territorial, ecological, and temporal scales. Energy networks, data infrastructures, extraction processes, and global logistics shape architecture as decisively as climate or urban context.

From Cloud to Coast: The Physical Cost of AI in Hong Kong’s Borderlands

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Amid the rapid build-out of data centres and AI economies across the Greater Bay Area—and alongside the celebration of AI as a tool and "author," as featured in 2025 Hong Kong–Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Hong Kong)—a parallel question becomes unavoidable: how do the planning and construction of AI infrastructure actually begin to shape everyday life? Many of the facilities already built remain intentionally distant from daily experience. The "cloud" may be marketed as immaterial, but its architecture is profoundly physical: high-power, high-heat, service-heavy environments that are often sited in remote or low-density areas to take advantage of lower land costs and to minimize friction with nearby communities. Security and risk management further reinforce this logic. Data centres hold sensitive, privileged information—corporate assets, legal records, government and institutional data—and remoteness becomes part of their operating model, keeping the infrastructures of AI both spatially and socially out of sight.

Error 404: Architectural Memory in the Age of Algorithms

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 08:30:00 +0000

Before the digital turn, architecture's memory was largely tangible. It lived in the weight of drawings, the patina of models, and the thickness of books. To preserve architecture meant to preserve its traces, the documents, sketches, and photographs through which buildings could be remembered long after their material form had changed or disappeared. The modern architectural archive, as it developed in the 20th century, was both a refuge and a device of legitimacy. Institutions such as the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Casa da Arquitectura, or the Deutsches Architekturmuseum were built upon the conviction that to preserve architecture was to preserve its documents.

Compute Isn’t Weightless: AI Infrastructure and the Architecture of the City

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:30:00 +0000

As artificial intelligence continues to disrupt sectors of the economy and reshape entire industries, institutions and individuals alike are bracing—and rapidly adapting—to the changes that machines seem to hold over our heads. Yet the more precise pressure is not simply AI altering the way people work and live, but the business models and investment logics of the companies developing these systems: the concentration of capital, the new requirements for compute, the race for compartmentalized talent, and the infrastructural footprint needed to sustain it. In the Greater Bay Area—anchored by Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong—this dynamic is especially pronounced. Government-led initiatives are actively accelerating the industry's growth, with policy and planning mechanisms beginning to translate an ostensibly intangible field into physical form: zoning updates, earmarked land, and the emergence of AI-oriented building types, from research laboratories to large-scale data centers.

The Technosphere: ArchDaily’s March Editorial Focus

Romullo Baratto — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

How heavy is a house? In his 1965 essay A Home Is Not a House, Reyner Banham observed that modern American dwellings were becoming structurally lighter while growing heavier in mechanical services, such as plumbing, wiring, heating, and cooling. The true weight of architecture, he argued, was no longer in walls and roofs, but in the energy-intensive systems that sustained comfort.

The Invisible City: India's Urban Infrastructure Projects of 2025 That Deserve Attention

Ananya Nayak — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In 2025, India's most consequential design projects unfolded largely out of sight. While public attention gravitated toward museums, cultural landmarks, and visually arresting façades, the architecture that most decisively shaped daily life existed underground, at the city's edges, or inside secured compounds few citizens would ever enter. Sewage networks were rebuilt, flood tunnels bored beneath dense neighborhoods, substations lifted above floodplains, and data centers multiplied across peri-urban landscapes. These were not peripheral works of engineering; they were the spatial systems that allowed Indian cities to remain functional through record heatwaves, erratic monsoons, and accelerating urban growth.

Evolution of Data Center Design: Modular Construction, Sustainable Architecture and Eclectic Form

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 07:30:00 +0000

As the AI fervor continues to reshape how people see the world, 2025 looms as yet another year in the march toward technological advancement. While some worry about the dominance of technology in society, architects are shifting their attention to the foundations of a digital future: data centers. The design of data centers challenges designers to reconcile the demands of technological functionality with the principles of architectural excellence. As the dependence on cloud computing, IoT ecosystems, and big data analytics deepens, data center architecture demands more attention. As data consumption skyrockets, data center consumption rates match the demand. These structures were once relegated to nondescript industrial zones, but are now becoming integral components of urban and suburban environments. While some community members are upset about the encroachment of data centers in their localities, others see them as indicators of economic development.

The Ecological Footprint of Data Centers: The Downpour of a Digital Future

Amrita Khosla — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This article is the winning entry of the Epistle Writing Prize 2024, an annual competition dedicated to recognizing outstanding writing on design, architecture, and the environment.

The Israel Pavilion Explores the Technological Cloud of Data Centers at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 06:30:00 +0000

The National Pavilion of Israel presents “Cloud-to-ground,” an immersive installation exploring the nature of modern communication networks at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition, curated by Arch. Oren Eldar, Arch. Edith Kofsky, and Hadas Maor, aims to initiate a multifaceted discussion regarding the physical aspects of virtual networks: the data centers and telephone exchanges commonly referred to as “black boxes.” The chosen theme is relevant for Israel due to its strategic location set at the intersection of continents and cultures. The pavilion in the Giardini will remain open for visitors until November 26, 2023.

Architecture of the Cloud: The Data Center Footprint

Matthew Maganga — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 08:30:00 +0000

In the contemporary context, as has been said a multitude of times, we seem to be living in what is classified as a digital age. A worldwide pandemic has enhanced the popularity of digital avenues to communicate — such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and the multiplatform messaging app WhatsApp is reported to have over 2 billion active users. From an environmental standpoint, we see the migration of businesses to the “cloud” heralded as a sustainability win. In simplified terms and to pick out a specific example, companies can refrain from storing data on external hard drives, opting instead to store their data on online file hosting services.

Mobility, Managerial Competencies and the Future of Architectural Practice in The 2020's

Paula Cano — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000

As the world slowly adjusts to the "new normal," so too does the architecture industry. Data related to market size and workloads shows that the profession continued to grow even after the pandemic struck. Other statistics show how architects are starting to be hit by the present crisis – such as the fall in full-time work and rising unemployment. While these statistics could take one down a road of despair (or enthusiasm), there is more to the numbers: Mobility, digital and managerial competencies are framing the profession in the 2020's. Not only as data for the sector to approach the market and retain talent but also as strategies in the face of crises and technologies to come.

Architecture Without People: the Built Environment of Machines

Andreea Cutieru — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 06:30:00 +0000

Data centers, automated assembly lines, telecommunications facilities, and warehouses represent a very utilitarian aspect of the built environment, and yet they compose a particular kind of infrastructure within contemporary society, one that is fundamental to the development of everyday life. Rarely discussed within the profession, these new typologies have more recently penetrated the architectural discourse, raising questions about the architectural significance and design potential of the spaces sustaining the mechanics of today's world.

The Irish Pavilion for the 2021 Venice Biennale Explores the Impact of Data Production on Everyday Life

Andreea Cutieru — Mon, 17 May 2021 05:45:00 +0000

For this edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Irish Pavilion focuses on data technologies and their presence within the physical landscape, exploring the cultural end environmental implications of data production and consumption. Titled Entanglement and curated by the multidisciplinary research and design collective ANNEX, the exhibition challenges the presumed immateriality of the Cloud, highlighting the infrastructure of data production and its impact on everyday life while also examining Ireland’s role in the evolution of global communication.

A Data Center in South Korea and a Refurbished Georgian Theater: 10 Unbuilt Projects Submitted by our Readers

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 07:35:00 +0000

Highlighting proposals presented in international competitions, this week’s selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture combines various functions, diverse conceptual approaches, and innovative ideas. Submitted by our readers, these projects include an awarded pavilion in Vietnam, a cantilevered-bridge proposal in New York, and a sustainable botanical center in Poland, amongst others from all over the globe.

Mecanoo's Qianhai Data Center is a "Digital Lighthouse" for Shenzhen

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Mecanoo has unveiled their design for the Qianhai Data Center in Shenzhen, China, from which they received second prize in an international design competition. The 63,000-square-meter scheme, imagined as an urban beacon, consists of an opaque tower atop an open plinth with offices and support spaces.

Snøhetta Designs Sustainable Data Center as "The Body and Brain of Future Cities"

Niall Patrick Walsh — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Snøhetta has released images of its proposed sustainable data center concept, named “The Spark.” The project seeks to address the typical high-energy-consuming typology of the data center, transforming it into an “energy-producing resource for communities to generate their own power.”

Plans Unveiled to Construct the World's Largest and Most Secure Data Center in Northern Norway

AD Editorial Team — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Plans have been revealed by American-Norwegian data company Kolos to construct the world's largest data center, a claim based on the amount of electrical power the site intends to draw from the grid to supply its banks of servers and cooling facilities. Located on a fjord in Ballangen, Norway, the proposed site sits within the Arctic Circle and would take advantage of the cold climate, low humidity, and the abundant supply of hydropower currently available in the area.

The Next Hyper-Efficient Data Centers May Be Located Underwater

Patrick Lynch — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 14:10:00 +0000

From giant squids to sunken treasure, the ocean has a way of hiding secrets better than any other place on Earth – so why not hide your personal information down there too?