A Spa in the Cloud: Data Hotels, Hanging Baths, and Thermosocial Exchange Peter Zuroweste This project unfolds out of the possibilities latent within the data center as an emergent contemporary typology undergoing transformation and proliferation on a global scale. As zoom calls, cryptocurrency mining, artificial intelligence, gaming, virtual reality and other trending data processes gain traction, the powers of computation and the networks which connect them consume increasingly concerning amounts of energy. The main challenge facing contemporary data centers is energy, both its consumption and its byproduct: excess heat. This project captures the enormous amount of heat excess generated by data centers and utilizes it as the basis for developing a thermal spa complex. The somatic experience of bathing counters the virtual experience of cloud-based activities in a hybrid program which intentionally conflates the physical and atmospheric sensations of the spa with the digital and technocratic processes of the data center. The proposal to integrate these programs engages the deep architectural history of the Roman Baths as a cue for discovering how digital exchanges via server farms can be coupled with social exchange via thermal baths as a way to redefine what it means to connect through the cloud. How can data centers minimize the data transfer latency in a way which uses the thermodynamic of latent heat to phase-change water into vapor and transform the malaise of digital isolation into the joy of collective cleansing?
“The Marvelous Baths of the Romans,” The Graphic, August 16, 1924
Longitudinal Section, showing Cascading Baths of different temperatures Peter Zuroweste
Roman Baths 4th Century AD
The Ancient Hypocaust
Boston Baths 21st Century AD
The Contemporary Hypocaust
The Hypocaust Hotel Modular Shipping Containers with Liquid-immersed Server Racks Peter Zuroweste
Site Plan
East Elevation Peter Zuroweste
Contemporary Shipbuilding Techniques
Natatio
Frigidarium
0 - Entry 1 - Caldarium (hot, dry with basins) 2 - Sudatorium (very hot, wet) 3 - Caldarium, small (warm, dry with basins) 4 - Warm Baths 5 - Laconum (very hot, sauna) 6 - Tepidarium (warm, dry) 7 - Frigidarium (cool, with cold pools) 8 - Ephebeum (untreated, exercise room) 9 - Peristyle 10 - Natatio (open pool, cool) 11 - Bath service 12 - Bath service
0 - Vestibule (entry) 1 - Apodyterium (undressing) 2 - Frigidarium vestibule 3 - Gymnasium 4 - Tepidarium (large) 5 - Tepidarium (small) 6 - Caldarium 7 - Courts for bath service 8 - Sudatorium (steam room) 9 - Ephebeum (exercise space) 10 - Peristyle (aka gymnasium) 11 - Frigidarium 12 - Halls of Transition
Peristyle & Gymnasium
Tepidarium
Apodyterium
Caldarium
Laconum & Sudatorium
Baths of Caracalla Peter Zuroweste
Baths of Diocletian
Baths of Boston
East Elevation
Longitudinal Section Peter Zuroweste
Peter Zuroweste
North Elevation
Cross Section
From Fid Kennedy Ave
South Elevation
From Sea-level
Sudatorium
Cascading Baths Plan, +10’ - + 80’ Peter Zuroweste
Hypocaust (Data Center) Above, Laconum Below
Hypocaust (Data Center) Above, Apodyterium Below
Hypocaust (Data Center) Plan, +100’ Peter Zuroweste
North Elevation
Ephebeum
Roof Plan, +120’ Peter Zuroweste
Enclosure
Server Hypocaust
Columns and Space Frame
Ramps
Hanging Vaults
Bath Follies
Dock + Core
Thermal Baths
Peter Zuroweste
Exhibition Above, Peristyle Below
Bird’s Eye