Interdisciplinary design research collective Flux Real Design Collective has released its proposal for a pair of intelligent data centers for socio-cultural hybrid communities in Mumbai, India.

Called Silicon Cultures, the twin towers are developed for a discourse that investigates on the possibilities of integrating machine Intelligence and human coordination to produce a socio-cultural hybrid vertical community of housing and communal spaces. 

Analysing on Mumbai's historical and infrastructural history in different layers, the towers aim to provide a multi-cultural base for diverse communities, emerging as an opportunity to how a city can set up own digital identity in a different manner. 

"Mumbai, a City in the West coast of India, is predominantly expanding its status as a hub for Information technology companies in India and has currently emerged as a top city in Asia expanding job markets and infrastructure in Technology and IT Sector," said Flux Real Design Collective.

"Since the 1990s, there has been a steep rise in the concentration of firms and infrastructure specializing in research and development, electronics and software production. Consequentially, Mumbai has become a hub thriving on increase in Electronic and Data Infrastructure, and renders to be the largest E Waste producer in the country."

Drone process

E-waste production

"India has emerged as fifth largest Electronic waste producer in the world. Nearly 95% of processing of electronic waste is carried out by the unskilled informal sector. It is expected that by 2020 India alone will generate one lakh tons of E-waste. When this becomes the figures, then it becomes hard to imagine our future," added the team. 

"According to the 2015 United Nations Environment Programme up to 90 per cent of the world's electronic waste is illegally dumped in India; this is on top of the estimated 1.85 million metric tonnes of E-waste produced domestically each year."

Migrants and Refugees in India

"In the seven decades since it became an Independent country, India has seen and largely welcomed waves of migrants fleeing conflict in neighbouring nations. Through history, Tibetians, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Afghan, Rohingya, Chakma and Hejong refugees have sought asylum and India has primarily followed the principle of non - refoulment, refusing to send refugees back to a place where they face a threat for life." 

Section

"In addition, due to the rise Interstate immigrants as well, the Urban housing shortage is expected to touch 341 million units by 2022. This large forced displacement of population is a national crisis that requires collective effort by the coordination and cooperation of man and machines."

Planned to be proposed as one or a pair of towers, this intelligent data center functions as the service and circulation core, over which the parasitic articulations of interlocking platforms are juxtaposed and interconnected. 

Site details

These platforms are produced from recycled e-waste – myco blocks (mycelium bio - composites), serving as a ground to house this multicultural diverse set of people. 

The spatial framework is constantly in dynamics, growing and decomposing in sizes and shapes, and different stacking organizations, based on the different parameters driven and operated by the AI Host. 

Tower generation

The proposed self-sufficient hybrid community is an amalgamation of different cultures living in harmony, with communal interactions, co-ordination, cooperation with the machines. This collective coexistence fosters a reminiscence of the traditional and lost cultures and paves a newer ground for reliving the nostalgic socio – cultural experiences harmoniously in the midst of these globalized digital landscapes.   

"The hybridization of traditional construction systems by people nested with intelligent networks of drones and robotics, fosters newer relationships, promoting cultural identity in conjunction to the digital identity," added the studio focusing on community participation.

Flux Real Design Collective produces architecture & design projects, game design, visual effects and XR Interaction design. 

Project facts

Project name: Silicon Cultures: An Intelligent Socio-cultural Hybrid Community in India

Architect: Flux Real Design Collective

Location: Mumbai, India

Year: 2018

Project team: Vamsi Krishna Vemuri, Uttam Solanki, Madhumathi Shankar, Abhishek Sanjay Shinde, Kalaivanan (student architect).

All images © Flux Real Design Collective

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