Google Is Turning Its Data Centers Into Giant Art Projects

While typically shrouded in secrecy, Google’s data center network is the magic behind what makes much of the tech giant really work. While its numerous data centers store an immense amount of information about the world we live in, they’re not necessarily known as a display of art and creativity. In order to change this perception and to add a human element to the internet’s so-called “homes,” Google has launched the Data Center Mural Project, which asks artists to paint giant murals on the data center buildings. With two centers, in Oklahoma and Belgium, having already received the visual upgrade, Google is hoping to expand the project to even more. At least two more data centers will become canvasses for artists, and that it’s considering doing the same with its 11 other data centers around the world. Oli-B, an artist who reimagined the cloud on the exterior of a data center in St. Ghislain, Belgium, says, “It may look like a giant canvas, but this is a very special place that plays a special role in the operation of the Internet, which ultimately plays a role in the lives of a lot of people and mine, too.”