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Coverbild Server Manifesto
A table of contents page from a book. The sections listed are: 6 This Is a Historic Moment by Francesca Bria; 16 Server Manifesto by Niklas Maak; 80 A New Building Type on the Block: Data Centers and the City, an interview with Karsten Spengler; 87 Designs by the Students of the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main; and 112 Colophon.
A two-page spread from a book titled Server Manifesto Data Center Architecture and the Future of Democracy. The right-hand page, under the heading The Cloud is Burning, shows a nighttime photograph of a multi-story data center building engulfed in flames and smoke. Text on both pages discusses a major fire at a data center in Strasbourg, France.
An architectural cross-section drawing of a multi-level building. The top section shows an exposed steel-and-glass structure with escalators and stairs against a background of sand dunes with people. The middle section features a glass-fronted building with a restaurant inside. The bottom section reveals the building's heavy concrete foundations set into dark earth.
An architectural concept page for Ville Digitale, featuring two renderings of a large, rectangular building with a vibrant, multicolored facade hovering over a monochrome cityscape. The structure is supported by a mix of thin yellow columns and angled, patterned purple legs. Accompanying text explains the project's goal of making digital infrastructure a visible and prominent part of the urban landscape.
A two-page magazine spread titled The Rural Micro-Server Farm by Shivam Chaudhary. The article features two images of buildings with facades made from a dense collage of recycled computer parts and e-waste. The main image is a large, multi-story building, while a smaller inset shows a similar structure with a greenhouse on top in a rural village.
A conceptual drawing of a public server farm as a new type of public space. The main illustration shows a multi-tiered building with glowing yellow interiors set into a hilly landscape. Silhouettes of people populate the structure and swim in a pool below, warmed by the server's heat. The page also includes text explaining the proposal and two architectural line drawings.
A surreal, graphic illustration of a futuristic wireframe architectural complex on an alien planet with orange, rocky terrain and a bright blue body of water under a black, starry sky. A large, gridded sphere floats above the sprawling structure. Crowds of small, red figures ascend a bright green ramp into the building, while others are on the shore below.
The cover of the book Server Manifesto by Niklas Maak, featuring black text on a solid red-orange background.
The book cover of Server Manifesto: Data Center Architecture and the Future of Democracy by Niklas Maak, featuring black serif text on a solid red background.
Server Manifesto
Data Center Architecture and the Future of Democracy
€ 18.00
VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout
Author: Niklas Maak
Designed by: Neil Holt
Illustrated by: Niklas Maak, Studierende der Harvard Graduate School of Design , Studierende der Städelschule Frankfurt
Contributions by: Karsten Spengler
June 2022, 112 Pages, 60 Photos
Paperback with Flaps
142mm x 210mm
ISBN: 978-3-7757-5070-7

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Press download
| Server Farms as Sites of Participatory Power
Server farms are to the digital world what castles used to be: the seat of power. If data is the greatest collective treasure of a digital society, basic material for business and politics: Why are the places where it is stored still so invisible?

Together with students from the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, Niklas Maak shows what the future of the most important new building typology of the twenty-first century might look like—and what new collective places a city needs in the age of digitalization.

"This is a historic moment. Data has become the most valuable commodity in the world. We can't leave it to a handful of tech giants. We must conceive of it as a public good and a critical public infrastructure, alongside roads, electricity, water, and clean air. To that end, we need what Niklas Maak calls a 'Centre Pompidou for the digital age.'" — Francesca Bria

This book is also available in English.
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