Hypercloud in the making: Infrastructure Walk to a Big Tech data centre construction site
| Hypercloud in the making: Infrastructure Walk to a Big Tech data centre construction site | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hypercloud in the making: Infrastructure Walk to a Big Tech data centre construction site |
| Location | HDSC2026 |
| Date | 2026/07/16 |
| Time | 17:00—19:00 |
| PeopleOrganisations | Livio Liechti |
| Type | HDSC2026 |
| Web | Yes |
| No | |
This event is only for participants of the Summer Camp 2026 and not open to the public, want to join us: check the HDSC2026 Clouds to Commons Public Program
An infrastructure walk is a guided tour to a place where infrastructural systems become visible (if we know what to look for). In the context of cloud computing, data centres are particularly interesting to visit, since seeing these sites in real life makes it easier to understand the size and extractive potential of these facilities.
As part of the Summer Camp, we will undertake an excursion to the construction site of the controversial Microsoft data centre in Sloterdijk, which is easily accessible from NDSM by public transport or bike. We will start our walk next to Sloterdijk train station and observe the fenced-off site from two sides. There will be several stops along the way where I will explain different aspects related to this specific project, how resistance is forming against it and how this specific project compares to other data centre developments in Europe. We will be joined by Marloes de Valk, a software artist and experienced data centre walkers, who will share insights on other Dutch data centre developments. Throughout the walk, participants are encouraged to ask questions and contribute their own expertise and perspectives to the conversation. Participants are asked to document the experience using a tool or method that feels most natural to them. This could be through drawing, map making, writing, photography, audio recordings or any other creative method. This will allow us to collectively make sense of what is going on on this specific site.
After the walk, participants are invited to contribute their observations to a collective zine. We will use the free studio time to work on this and present our findings back to other participants and the public on the final day.
Participants should bring:
- Comfortable shoes and sun/rain protection;
- water and snacks; means of documentation (sketch pad and pens, camera, smartphone, etc.);
- public transport card or their own bike to get to Sloterdijk station.
Timeline:
- The walk will take 1,5 to 2 hours.
- We will meet at Sloterdijk station at 17:00 (departure from H&D Studio around 16:30 by bike or public transport)
- walk towards the construction site (15-20 minutes).
- Once we have reached the site, we will make several stops to explore different aspects of the data centre through interactive activities and short input presentations and Q&A moments.
- At the end, we will walk back to Sloterdijk station.
- In the days after the walk, we will use the free studio time to work on some zines.
Access note: The site is located in a quiet industrial zone not far from Sloterdijk station. There are several pedestrian crossings along the way. Access is step-free, but the sidewalk on the final stretch is relatively narrow. Participants should watch out for vehicle traffic and keep an eye on others. There might be increased private and/or police surveillance in the area given a recent protest action by an activist group that temporarily occupied the site on 13 June. These walks can be quite information-dense. Participants are encouraged to notify the facilitator if things become too overwhelming or if vocabulary is being used that they are not familiar with. If construction is going on while we visit, there might be some noise and dust in the area.
Bio:
Livio Liechti is a researcher and writer focused on the materiality of information infrastructures. Together with Apsara Flury, a graphic designer, he runs Papertrail, a publishing collective that investigates how dominant communications infrastructures (re)produce spatial and epistemic power in the public sphere.
Papertrail uses walking-based practices, counter-mapping and experimental print production to make infrastructural power and its materiality visible and legible. Their research combines a documentary perspective on the environmental effects of digital infrastructures, such as hyperscale data centres, with prefigurative experimentation with non-digital information infrastructures, such as street libraries.
Livio is also active in the (anti) data centre movement, where he regularly takes people on educational walks to prospective data centre sites and other infrastructural artefacts hidden in plain sight.
