Dundee: a Digital Archipelago
figure ground plan of digital dundee with social centres
The thesis designs a new public institution and a city for a digital collective, a city where dispersed living becomes accessible and allows for select islands within Dundee to enhance their urbanity.
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Under the tutelage of Dr Lorens Holms, this master thesis explores the architectural implications that a digital collective will have on the individual, the room and the city.
When home computers were first introduced in the 1980s, society set off on a course which would allow people to operate untethered to a specific location. It gave rise to a new type of individual, a digital nomad. An individual who was able to perform all activities at work without needing to physically be to work. The freedom to travel whilst maintaining a job became an attractive lifestyle for many however this was not practiced on a large scale until the 2020 pandemic, which required people to work, shop and socialize from screens in their homes. This pandemic boosted the trends of living digitally with people substituting their own homes for offices, movie theatres, restaurants and bars, gyms, and social spaces. This digital collective is capable of participating in society regardless of their physical proximity to it.
Heavily influenced by ideas in no-stop city and the machine stops, this thesis treats Dundee as a laboratory to explore the ways in which a digital collective will affect the urban fabric of the city. A city that is inspired by Unger’s Berlin, with maximally dispersed houses taking up residence in the in-between nothingness. It explores the implications of a digital city such as loneliness, elements of the post-anthropocene, and challenges of sustainability through a design project intended to emphasize the significant need for a room of physical collectiveness in a digital city. By embracing a hybrid programme of a data centre and a social function, the social centre creates a physical space that supports and enriches a digital collective.
Collaborators: Dr Lorens Holm