The 2008 Olympic Data Center, Beijing Goes TRON
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There's no question, the 2008 Olympics, to be held in Beijing China, are serious business. An of course, serious business needs serious compute, communications and storage power. For this year's Summer Olympic games, China certainly isn't messing around. In fact, the old American proverb, "go big or go home" seems to fit aptly.
"The concept for Digital Beijing was developed through reconsideration and reflection on the role of contemporary architecture in the information era. Resembling that omnipresent symbol, the bar code, the building emerges from a serene water surface. The façade itself is detailed to resemble an integrated circuit board. The abstracted mass of the building, reflecting the simple repetition of 0 and 1 in its alternation between void and solid, recreates on a monumental scale the microscopic underpinnings of life in the digital age to form a potent symbol of the Digital Olympics and the Digital Era. In the future, it is expected that the building will be constantly under renovation as it evolves to keep pace with technology."
Digital Beijing - The 2008 Olypmics Data Center
Source: Studio Pei-Zhu
Digital Beijing - The 2008 Olypmics Data Center
Source: Studio Pei-Zhu
With a full 1 million+ square feet to play with, it's safe to say the architects at Studio Pei-Zhu were swinging for the fences just a bit. The building, fully lit in the evening with LED lighting, looks reminiscent of a scene out of the movie TRON. Hopefully, this behemoth isn't designed just for glitz and glamor though. After last year's online ticket sales crashed Beijing's ticketing system, hopefully someone hired some serious network architects as well. Maybe the Olympic Committee should kick it around a bit in the HH Data Center to get some feedback?
