Harnessing The Future; How the Internet’s Digital Infrastructure Influences the Global Landscape

Studio Challenge:  
Digital infrastructure has become the connective tissue of today’s civilization weaving together culture, community, and humanity from a historical compendium of events and facts to future explorations and manifests. The ‘cloud’ requires a robust network of physical infrastructure to power, store, consume and distribute the past and future knowledge we create and rediscover every day. Data Centers are the nodal nexus that houses, protects, and redistributes this data, where the demand for these facilities is only increasing. The scale of these projects is not without precedent and requires careful intervention to develop hundreds of acres, harness access to electrical power, water resources, roadway infrastructures, and orchestrate a multi-year construction cycle which can populate the site with an influx of over 1500 workers.

The quest will be to create a legacy of positive impacts for the host communities. This studio will examine the opportunities to harness the investments that preserve the sanctity of history, protect environmental integrity, accommodate the needs of the construction industry, and orchestrate economic benefits for the greater good and quality of life.

The Studio
The studio will undertake research, study precedents, and develop watershed solutions enhancing the welfare and wellbeing of the community for generations to come.” To succeed, each project will need a compelling storyline that presents the idea, a clear vision of how to implement it, and a creative visual immersion that bring to life this delicate balance of preserving the integrity of the existing culture while creating new possibilities that galvanize a certainty for the future.

Located in Western Ireland, the site presents the typical small historic community being confronted with this scenario as a representation of similar events happening around the world. County Galway has an ancient history, strong cultural traditions, strict environmental regulations, a comprehensive planning process, while simultaneously facing a desperate need for economic development and job opportunities.
 

TThe first day of GSD classes, Tuesday, September 5th, is held as a MONDAY schedule at the GSD. As this course meets on Tuesday, the first meeting of this course will be on Thursday, September 7th. It will meet regularly thereafter.