Home 9 Research projects 9 The Mechanization of Life: An Architectural History of Intensive Animal Farming Coordinators: S. Nannini (Principal Investigator – PI)

The Mechanization of Life: An Architectural History of Intensive Animal Farming Coordinators: S. Nannini (Principal Investigator – PI)

Abstract

Meat and dairy products are ubiquitous ingredients in the globe’s diet. However, the buildings that transform living beings into commodities are usually hidden from the public eye. The architecture of factory farming may seem anonymous and banal, and yet it is made possible by sophisticated technologies and practices of biosecurity. What are the historical roots of intensive animal farming and how did it become such a popular paradigm at a global level? How was the design of intensive animal farming promoted and applied to a great number of species – mostly cattle, poultry, and hogs – since the nineteenth century? Which technical literature and experts supported the application of factory farming in many different contexts? The project also explores the presence and role of certain building materials – such as cement, reinforced concrete, and steel – in the design and construction of cow barns, hogs, and poultry housing. The Mechanization of Life investigates the history of this invisible architecture, which has sustained the great acceleration of our species in the last two centuries and has imposed our dominion on billions of non-humans.

    Participants

    Sofia Nannini (PI),  Politecnico di Torino Contact: sofia.nannini@polito.it 

     

    Short Bibliography

    B. Piazzesi, Del governo degli animali. Allevamento e biopolitica. Macerata: Quodlibet Studio, 2023.

    A. Blanchette, Porkopolis: American Animality, Standardized Life, and the Factory Farm. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2020.

    S. Taylor, Beasts of Burden. Animal and Disability Liberation. New York: The New Press, 2017.

    J. P. Garric, Vers Une Agritecture: Architecture des constructions agricoles (1789–1950). Bruxelles: Margada, 2014.

    K. Fish, Living Factories: Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism. Montreal: McGill University Press, 2013.

    N. Shukin, Animal Capital. Rendering Life in Biopolitical Times. Minnesota University Press, 2009.

    S. R. Schrepfer, and P. Scranton, eds. Industrializing Organisms: Introducing Evolutionary History. New York/London: Routledge, 2004.