Server And Served
An Institution For The City
This thesis is the proposition for a new prototype architectural type that uses the economic model of a server farm to fund an amateur research institution for the city, creating a public space of slowness in a busy urban fabric. The journey of this thesis started at the British Library who, acknowledging that there is a transition towards the digitisation of information, are questioning what they are as an institution. Using this as a starting point this thesis is comprised of the following three facets: One | Physical manifestation of invisible infrastructures; Two | Research as a spatial practice; & Three | Slow landscape.
To develop the architectural prototype, 44 Westgate Road, Newcastle was chosen as a space of slowness in a busy urban fabric. The program provides a series of carefully designed research spaces in addition to a server farm that is placed at the front of the building to celebrate the infrastructure that is the backbone of our society.