MUNICH.- The increasing datafication of our virtual and physical lives has lead to an exponential rise in the construction of data infrastructure, ranging from undersea cable networks to vast data centers. New facilities are sprawling across territories, and cities and states around the globe are dedicating entire areas to these constructions so they can compete on the global data map. These sites generate immense economic value, but they come at high environmental and social costs, often contested by local communities and environmental movements. Power-hungry and resource-intensive, they depend on clean water and local energy grids, concentrating economic and political influence in the hands of a few multinational corporations. Moreover, details about data production and data rights are often kept out of public debates. At the same time, data has virtually become the new currency, fueling the extraction of more and more critical materials such as lithium, copper, cobalt, and tin.

This exhibition critically examines the material and spatial impact of data infrastructure by revealing the sites where data is produced and consumed. How do we balance the increased appetite for data with just and equitable development? What effect does pervasive datafication have on the material landscape, architectural practice, and on memory and heritage?

By making the sites of data infrastructure visible and raising awareness of our planetary data footprint, questions arise about how we should care for data. What should we keep, and what can we let go? The exhibition thus opens up a discussion about data’s potential role in fostering democratic and ecologically responsible collective futures.

An accompanying book featuring voices from architecture, media studies, technology, art, and political theory will be released: ‘City in the Cloud – Data on the Ground: The Architecture of Data’ edited by Cara Hähl-Pfeifer, Damjan Kokalevski and Andres Lepik, published by ArchiTangle, Berlin (German: ISBN 978-3- 9817790-6-6, English: ISBN 978-3-9817790-5-9; 58 euros).

Cooperation partners: Deutsches Museum; Digital Twin Munich by the City of Munich, Department of Communal Services, and GeodataService; and Leibniz Supercomputing Centre of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Curator: Damjan Kokalevski
Research Advisor: Marina Otero Verzier Research and Photography: Giulia Bruno Photography: Catherine Hyland