Grounding the Cloud
Urbanism in the Shadow of Data
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Grounding the Cloud: Urbanism in the Shadow of Data
By Ali Fard
Book Talk
Fri, Nov 20, 12 PM
Campbell Van Lengen Lobby
What are the material and spatial realities of cloud computing? In Grounding the Cloud: Urbanism in the Shadow of Data, Associate Professor Ali Fard dismantles the myth of a weightless digital world by uncovering the infrastructures, labor, and landscapes that sustain contemporary technology. From rare earth mines and undersea cables to data centers and smart-city initiatives, Fard reveals how data economies are reshaping urban environments. The book argues that technology corporations have become powerful actors in urbanization, advancing particular visions of our collective urban future.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.
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About the Author
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Ali Fard is a researcher, designer, and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture where he directs the MIST (Media, Infrastructure, Speculative Territories) Lab. Fard's work operates at the intersection of design and global urban processes. He is particularly interested in the spatial imprints of technology and the urban disposition of infrastructure, and how design research can help ground the operational complexity, spatial hybridity, and territorial scales of large technical systems. His work has been published in journals, including Footprint, MONU, MAS Context, Bracket, Telematics and Informatics, and Harvard Design Magazine, among others. He is coeditor of New Geographies, 7: Geographies of Information (Harvard University Press, 2015).
