Clouds have already been utilized to expand the knowledge frontiers of science, medicine, productivity and entertainment. Clouds work through scalability and vast participation. Clouds bring new understanding to old problems and allow us to pose new questions. Clouds are a new way of thinking. Our mission at the Cloud Lab is to expand the knowledge frontier of architecture and the environment by examining the applications of unique computing technologies in our urban life.

We examine the implications for big data, mass adoption and exponential growth for the ways we construct the physical and mental environment. We create and promote applications for design engineering. We promote new methods of interaction and expression within our environment.
 
The Cloud Lab was formed in 2010 by Mark Collins and Toru Hasegawa at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (GSAPP).