The “data center city” project designed by SO/AP was produced for the Unbuilt Vision competition, and was presented for Design Week at the University Art Museum of Louisiana.

The concept tries to analyze the physical impact of NTICs on our territory and especially our relationship to the city. Today there are nearly 619 data center facilities in 33 countries in the world. These places generate a new geography of virtual media. As a new territo

ry the project is based on the premise that identity is no longer considered through traditional, physical or administrative boundaries but linked to a server and consolidate under a domain name as each European country has its unique online identity. In practice, this means that data centers are directly associated to an urban structure and gather all information related to this structure.

Unlike cloud computing which consists of moving digital information on remote servers, here they are integrated into the urban structure itself and form the basis of its identity.

Today, we have to consider that virtuality in town planning redefines our access to information and knowledge. It alters the way we act and our overall perception of space and time, in the same way as it alters our sense of common life.

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