DATACENTRIC COMMON

Abstract

Along with the growing amount of data usage and smart city development, more data centers are expected to be built in the urban area to meet the demand of even higher connectivity and lower latency brought up by the advance technology. Data centers have long been an infrastructural typology that prioritizes machinery functionality over humanity. Urbanization of data centers means more urban space will be taken up by inaccessible data centers that are designed purely for servers, which harms our livability. As data usage is growing exponentially every year, it is imperative for the city to design a way that situate data centers more harmoniously into the city fabric that bring positive impact to the social context and the neighboring environment. The design focuses on developing a new data center typology which could at the same time fulfill the growing demand of data infrastructure in Manhattan central business center and provide positive impact to social life and the environment. Looking into situation in Northeast Midtown Manhattan, an adaptive reuse proposal is adopted to redesign an existing 50-years old office tower, which is 40 stories high and fully vacant at the moment, into a new data center that fit contemporary need. The project incorporates function of a data center, office and public amenities. The design aims to position data centers in midtown Manhattan as anchors of smart city developments and harnesses its waste energy to empower social gathering places and creative work environment.