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Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Image> Data Monumentality, Rendering (6' x 1') Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

DATA MONUMENTALITY

Authors:

Hyun Jun Cho

Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran

Awards:

Space Group Prize of Excellence (2022)
 

Institution:

Cornell University

College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)

 

Prototypologies,

Design Studio by Jesse LeCavalier

Dates:

Spring-Fall, 2022

Iteration, explorative modell> Data Monumentality, 

Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

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Our investigation begins from one question: where is contemporary life situated in the epoch of digital transformations? When we sit at our desk and receive a new message on one of our screens, how do we make sense of the processes and physical infrastructures that make this possible? We envision not only the future of this infrastructural system but make further attempts to imagine the possibilities of its physical reality and potential political implications.


As revealed in our initial case study of Equinix, the world's largest data infrastructure company, the physical reality of the data industry has been disregarded and intentionally concealed from the public eyes, despite their deep penetration into our daily activities. We are no longer able to perform our day-to-day duties without using the internet that travels through one of Equinix's facilities, although we cannot see their facilities around us. The problem that we challenge here is this disparity between the ubiquitous internet connection and the displacement of physical infrastructures from the urban centers. We believe that this problem is at the risk of centralizing the power to the hands of private monopolies. We call this digital parasitism, and the further studies seek militant strategies to battle against the private monopolization of internet infrastructure - so as to reclaim public data back to the hands of the individual end users from this digital feudalism. As a resolution, we imagine a monumental public data infrastructure located in the middle of Manhattan.


This tower establishes and maintains the exponentially growing urban data network, while serving as a civic device to reveal the system to the public eyes. From conduits to cables and tanks, every process and physical operation that enables distribution and processing of data becomes transparent and habitable in this tower. This tower democratizes and reclaims data back to the public. Architecture of the tower depicts the future that we envision. Infinite data accumulation is no longer limited in the initial boundary of the building. This tower provides a porous structural framework, and the equipment is incrementally installed as the public demand increases. The form of the tower is itself the physical manifestation of the public data usage. The tower grows, and no one has authority to define its final form. Growing inside the James Farley building, the tower introduces new public monumentality by not only expressing civic ideals but also generating common goods for the district. It utilizes excess heat from the machines by distributing it to the district and providing hanging civic spaces within its porous structure to hold various public activities. Data infrastructures no longer crawl in the shades of the city but boasts its presence at the heart of the city. Our commitment is to envision an immediate technological future that is already in the progress.

Thinking our data and its trail as a provocation to address digital spheres and democracy—servers, racks and labor or energy demands as claims for resources reuse.  

Drawing-00-Research_B1.png
Drawing-00-Research_B1.png

Image> Long Communication Buildings' Catalog,  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Image> System Drawing "The Logistics of Internet",  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

The ascension of information-exchange corporations placed these artifacts into the center of communication infrastructure. In the era of cloud storage-

-data centers are critical tools for the well going of our societies where the dependance on these stations, boost data tracking to appear as a critical sector itself

Image> System Drawing "The Logistics of Internet",  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Image> Data Monumentality, cross-section drawing,  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Image> Rendering, a Post-Technological New York,  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Long communication infrastructure was deployed serving economic purposes rather than a demanded necessity from countries to be interconnected. Accelerating since the global organization of the telegraph, the fears of losing communication or exposing security breaches motivated building large and multi-layered communication facilities. Within these intentions, cloud networks also rely on the paranoia of failure, and an accumulative back-up stage drives technology into adopting new scales and forms. 

Image> Data Monumentality, 3D Model, Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho
Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Long communication infrastructure was deployed serving economic purposes rather than a demanded necessity from countries to be interconnected. Accelerating since the global organization of the telegraph, the fears of losing communication or exposing security breaches motivated building large and multi-layered communication facilities. Within these intentions, cloud networks also rely on the paranoia of failure, and an accumulative back-up stage drives technology into adopting new scales and forms. 

Image> Catalog + Urban Deployment,  Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

Data Monumentality AAP Cornell Eduardo Cilleruelo Teran Hyun Jun Cho

Image> Data Monumentality, urban connections and main configuration, Hyun Jun Cho,  Eduardo Teran.

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