International architecture studio Hyphen has unveiled plans for Rio AI City, a large-scale data centre development in Rio de Janeiro state designed for Brazilian operator Elea Data Centres. The project will comprise 10 buildings arranged across a landscaped campus in Jacarepaguá, near the city’s Olympic Park. Planned to support up to 3.5 gigawatts of capacity, the development is intended to serve growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure while integrating public spaces, plazas, and extensive planting throughout the site.
The masterplan combines rectilinear data centre buildings with parkscapes, biodiversity corridors, wetlands, and green facades designed to help moderate local temperatures. According to the project team, the campus will operate using certified renewable energy and will reuse infrastructure connected to the 2016 Olympic Games. Native planting and water-retention systems draw inspiration from the surrounding Mata Atlântica biome, while publicly accessible areas are intended to create stronger connections between the facility and the wider community.
Green-Clad Data Campuses
The Rio Ai City Plans a Large-Scale Data Centre District in Brazil
Trend Themes
-
Green Data Campuses — Large-scale computing sites are being reimagined as landscaped civic environments where renewable power, biodiversity corridors, and public plazas reduce the perceived divide between digital infrastructure and urban life.
-
AI Infrastructure Urbanism — The growth of artificial intelligence workloads is pushing data centre planning toward district-scale developments that combine extreme capacity with transportation access, climate adaptation, and community-facing design.
-
Olympic Legacy Reuse — Former mega-event infrastructure is gaining new relevance as a foundation for high-capacity technology districts that convert underused assets into engines for cloud computing and regional economic growth.
Industry Implications
-
Data Centres — Hyperscale operators have new room to differentiate through campuses that pair gigawatt-level capacity with renewable energy procurement, heat moderation strategies, and more publicly integrated site planning.
-
Urban Planning — City development models are expanding to include data infrastructure as a visible civic asset, creating opportunities around mixed-use buffers, ecological restoration, and community-accessible technology zones.
-
Renewable Energy — Certified clean power demand from AI and cloud facilities is accelerating the need for large-scale renewable supply models linked directly to mission-critical digital infrastructure.