THE FARM

Data Center And Public Housing

ARCH 602

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Critic: Tina Manis

Location: Downtown Brooklyn, 30 Flatbush Avenue housIng

The recent rezoning of the special BK2 District near Downtown Brooklyn promises to transform the area’s economy and demographic as new companies and a population of young, diverse professionals have begun to flock to the area. With these new arrivals comes an increased need for housing and public amenities for the new and historic residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. The Farm addresses these issues through the introduction of a data center. Responding directly to the influx of companies to the area and their need for computing power, The Farm also allows for residents and visitors to see the physical manifestation of their digital lives by experiencing amenities formed and powered by data servers. Rather than being hidden away, servers are the most integral part of the project’s phenomenology, forming an experiential path throughout the building’s programming. By integrating servers into a variety of programs relating to work, home, and public space, The Farm seeks to redefine the ever present role of data in the heart of the city.

Data centers are often demonized for being the sources of large amounts of wasted energy, particularly in the form of heat. The Farm further lives up to its name by integrating a literal farm in the form of a greenhouse, heated by the energy generated by the program’s servers. This heat is also utilized for the purpose of heating the building’s housing units. The produce grown within the proposed greenhouse is dispersed to the local community through the introduction of a public market on the project’s roof.

ExIsTIng offICE BuILdIng