How Big Data is Transforming Architecture

Data is one of the biggest byproducts of the 21st century. Almost everything we do produces data, from swiping credit cards to emailing, “liking” photos on Facebook, and requesting directions in Google Maps. Meanwhile, an increasing number of gadgets in the built environment, such as thermostats and refrigerators, are bolstering the Internet of Things and relaying the data that they gather.

Some organizations have attempted to quantify how much data is produced daily (see examples by Domo, IBM, and EMC Corp.), but the rate is growing so quickly that most estimates are obsolete. Suffice it to say, our production of data is exploding.

Data has even manifested a physical presence. In New York, a new type of architecture is emerging in which large skyscrapers, such as 375 Pearl Street (commonly known as the Verizon Building), are being retrofitted into digital warehouses that accommodate computers rather than people. Similar buildings are popping up across the United States for the purpose of storing and analyzing data. These highly secured, windowless, and climate-controlled repositories are filled with our cat photos, banking transactions, and drunken text messages, not to mention all that data from the built environment.

Increasingly, the value of a business is tied to its ability to mine data. This is obvious in the tech industry, where companies like Google and Facebook have made billions from understanding the data produced by their users. But the abundance of data affects nearly every other industry as well. Even activities synonymous with intuition and dexterity, such as baseball, have been transformed by Moneyball-style data analysis.