Data centres, the most influential architectures of our time, are rarely designed as architecture, or with critical engagement from architects. The image of a frictionless and immaterial “cloud” stands in contrast with the stark territorial reality of a network of black boxes with few human employees, engineered for uninterrupted power supply, fibre-optic connectivity, and layered security. Single data centres often consume more energy than entire cities; water demand soars, along with waste-heat production, and limited material reuse. As a result of the global AI race and its accelerating investments, data centre energy demand in Europe is projected to triple by 2030—becoming a serious obstacle to energy transition.

From doomscrolling to AI apocalypse, and, from dopamine detox to phone-free zones: numerous cultural phenomena accompany the digital acceleration. Data centres are a manifestation of this acceleration and power. A power now increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few global tech giants, tracking every move of our digital behaviour and controlling our personal data. As a result, the concept of digital sovereignty—the capacity of nations, and by extension the institutions and individuals within their territories, to regain local control over the data they produce—is increasingly pursued as a political objective.

The Swiss case is striking: data is proclaimed to be “the new gold,” a new strategic asset allowing for unprecedented concentration of data infrastructures, second only to Ireland. Big tech firms rely on Switzerland’s political stability, dense connectivity, and low taxes.
The Zurich metropolitan region is by far the biggest cluster of data centres in Switzerland—in tax-advantaged jurisdictions, along infrastructure corridors, near corporate headquarters, and close to the financial hubs, while providing few jobs and limited public benefits—including large AI data farms in peripheral communes Dielsdorf, Volketswil, or Glattbrugg.

An unprecedented, seemingly unconstrained expansion of the cluster is already on its way. A recent study projects that by 2030, Swiss data centres could consume up to 15 percent of the nation’s electricity. High pressures on industrial land and energy grid are pushing new hyperscalers further afield into Aargau and Schaffhausen. What are the limits to the growth of data centres? And who decides?

The studio focuses on the spatial impacts of digital infrastructures in the Zurich data centre cluster. It invites you to develop a common territorial design project and accompanying policy instruments, envisioning the future of Zurich’s data landscape. What would it mean to treat the data centre not as a sealed technical object, but as an actor with public obligations to its surrounding communities, the urban space, and the landscape? How might data centres, energy grids, and waste-heat networks be designed as shared spaces and infrastructures—like libraries, greenhouses, or playgrounds—rather than public burdens? Should citizen data such as biometric identity and health records be stored on Microsoft servers, as they currently are, or within new social digital infrastructures? And how in our personal use can we develop different data ecologies including healthy online-offline rhythms that do not require constant connection to the cloud?

The studio is structured in three phases: 1) comparative mapping and urban analysis; 2) fieldwork and video reportage; and 3) a common map of the future of the cloud. During the first three weeks, you will work in groups to portray one of the international data centre clusters (from North Virginia to Beijing), mapping the planetary inequalities of data computing and the geography of the digital divide, and comparing it to Zurich. In the core of the semester, you will investigate a data centre currently under construction in the Zurich region, through fieldwork, interviews, and video essays. Working across scales, you will visualise Switzerland’s cloud infrastructure using narrative cartography, QGIS, analysis of urban impacts, and development of spatial and policy prototypes. A collective territorial project for Zurich’s data centre landscape is the final goal of your work. The common project plan will articulate a shared vision and spatial strategies for the cloud infrastructure that contributes to socially and environmentally just transition.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

is a studio series at Architecture of Territory dedicated to improving the social and environmental outcomes of technological and sustainability transitions. The studio is affiliated with the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) through the research grant “The Production of Cloud.”

PROCESS AND RESULTS

The work consists of investigative journeys and intensive studio sessions. Architecture of Territory values intellectual curiosity, commitment, and team spirit. We are looking for avid travellers and team workers, motivated to make strong and independent contributions. Our approach enables students to explore a range of methods pertaining to territory, including ethnographic fieldwork, drawing styles, and mapping techniques such as QGIS. Your results will be published as an online reportage on our website using journalistic writing and videography to explain your work. Experts and guests will guide us on that journey. Students work in groups of two to three.

EXCURSION: MUNICH

For the second Tuesday of the semester, we will travel to Munich to visit the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and the exhibition City in the Cloud—Data on the Ground at the Architekturmuseum der TUM. Travel expenses of about 60 CHF will have to be covered by you.

CREDITS

The semester offers a total of 17 credit points: the Design Studio 14 KP and the Integrated Discipline (Planning) 3 KP.