Harnessing the Future: How the Internet’s Physical Digital Infrastructure Influences Landscape, Local Economies, and the Ecologies of Communities.
Instructors: Thomas Oslund, Catherine Murrey
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“Bun na Speire”
Ir (n.) horizon, ‘beneath the sky’
Representing the ‘cloud’ as an atmospheric microclimate and reclamation of wetland grounds
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On the site of Askeaton, Western Ireland, clouds dominate the sky and precipitation is culture. The proposal considers the systems above ground, from the atmospheric scale to the microclimate and the architecture.
The design proposes to represent the Cloud system’s intensive metabolism as its expression, with responses to atmospheric environments. Throughout the course, the microclimate assists in the process of reclaiming the agricultural ground back to native wetlands. Thus, ‘Bun na Sperie’ or the ‘horizon’ is where the sky meets the ground.

The proposal considers its whole lifespan from before, during, and after the operation of the data center. First, the land will be purchased by the operator and given back to the public after a lifespan. During the operation taking place in a predictable period, rewetting efforts will transform farmlands back into wetlands. Once the data center is decommissioned, the building and equipment will be moved out, leaving only stone markings on the land and the diverse landscapes as the data center’s legacy.