{"id":9432,"date":"2026-06-08T17:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T17:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=9432"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:18:28","slug":"plant-covered-rio-ai-city-set-to-be-latin-americas-largest-data-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/plant-covered-rio-ai-city-set-to-be-latin-americas-largest-data-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant-covered Rio AI City set to be Latin America’s largest data centre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hypen<\/div>\n

International architecture studio Hyphen has released plans for a data centre<\/a> in Rio de Janeiro<\/a> state with 10 plant-covered buildings and parkscapes and has claimed it will be “one of the world’s first sustainable AI districts”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Developed by Brazilian company Elea Data Centres<\/a>, plans for Rio AI City consist of 10 buildings spread out over a site in the rural Jacarepagu\u00e1 area, with an energy usage of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) scalable to 3.5 GW. By comparison, the State of Rio de Janeiro has a capacity of about 8.5 GW.<\/p>\n

It will be situated near the city’s Olympic Park, leveraging existing infrastructure, with Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes claiming<\/a> it will be “Latin America’s largest data hub”.<\/p>\n

\"Hypen
Hyphen has released renderings of the Rio AI City data centre in Brazil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elea Data Centres said that the project represents one of the “world’s first sustainable AI districts”.<\/p>\n

Renderings of the master plan show mostly rectilinear buildings set in a grid, interspersed with plazas and what appears to be wetland landscaping.<\/p>\n

Responding to questions from Dezeen about the massive power usage associated with data centers and the AI boom more generally, Hyphen<\/a>‘s Chile office said that Rio AI City will run on all renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\"Hypen
The study claims it will use all renewables to meet the high energy demands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Rio AI City addresses this challenge through a combination of renewable energy sourcing, zero water cooling systems, efficient infrastructure design, and landscape-led environmental strategies,” a Hyphen representative told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The campus is planned to operate using 100 per cent renewable and certified energy,” they continued.<\/p>\n

“The project also reuses existing infrastructure from the Rio 2016 Olympic legacy, reducing the environmental impact associated with new large-scale developments.”<\/p>\n

\"Hypen
The studio has depicted a campus of greenwall-clad buildings for the campus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The buildings themselves feature greenery planted on latticed exteriors.<\/p>\n

Hyphen claims the greenery will work to mitigate the “heat-island effect” that studies have linked with hyperscale data centres<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Hypen
The project will reuse Olympic infrastructure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The landscape strategy is directly linked to mitigating heat island effects,” said Hyphen.<\/p>\n

“Rio AI City incorporates extensive green infrastructure, including native planting, green facades, biodiversity corridors, and water retention systems connected to the surrounding Mata Atl\u00e2ntica biome,” it continued.<\/p>\n

“These landscape elements provide passive cooling, reduce surface temperatures, increase shading, improve microclimatic conditions, and help lower heat gain across the campus.”<\/p>\n

\"Hypen
It will have tropical landscaping and be accessible to the public<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s unclear how the planting might react to the energy output of the data centres.<\/p>\n

The studio said that aspects of the campus will be publicly accessible, and that it will draw on local culture in the orientation of the space.<\/p>\n

Hyphen claimed it’s a “distinctly Latin American” response to the question of integrated data centre infrastructure.<\/p>\n