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ETD Abstract Container

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Datascapes: Envisioning a New Kind of Data Center

Pfeiffer, Jessica
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin158399900447231

Abstract Details

2020, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
About 4.5 billion people across the world accessed the Internet in 2019. Every second, 63,000 searches occur on Google, over 8,600 tweets are sent, and roughly 940 photos are uploaded to Instagram. As we move toward a digital age, our economy and society continue to shift towards increased digital information management. This digital information is stored in data centers which have become ever present – they are found in nearly every sector of the economy – and are essential to the function of communication, business, academics, and governmental systems. These facilities can range from small, closet-sized rooms to massive warehouses full of thousands of servers. While we continue to embrace the digital world, the majority of us do not consider the physical ramifications data centers have. They are high-energy consuming typologies and collectively account for approximately 2% of the total electricity usage in the United States. As our country’s appetite for data continues to grow, so does the demand for data centers. So, to what degree can architecture further develop the sustainability of data centers? Data centers produce heat, and a lot of it, which creates an opportunity to recapture that energy and use it to power the local communities they inhabit. Through architecture, their environmental impacts can be mitigated by transforming these high-energy consuming typologies into energy-producing resources. And how can architecture change the way we interact with these typologies? By incorporating new programs with the data, it will create a hub of technology and community spaces that reintroduce a human touch back into the otherwise mechanical and digitalized data center. As we continue to create more data, the demand for storage increases and it’s time to talk about the physicality of “the cloud” and the impact it has on the communities it inhabits.
Elizabeth Riorden, M.Arch. (Committee Chair)
Michael McInturf, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
88 p.
Architecture
data center; green infrastructure; sustainability; urban; waste heat recovery

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pfeiffer, J. (2020). Datascapes: Envisioning a New Kind of Data Center [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin158399900447231

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pfeiffer, Jessica. Datascapes: Envisioning a New Kind of Data Center. 2020. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin158399900447231.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pfeiffer, Jessica. "Datascapes: Envisioning a New Kind of Data Center." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin158399900447231

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin158399900447231
58
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.