Open architecture lecture: Sofia Nannini

On May 31, at 11 AM Sofia Nannini will present a lecture “The mechanization of life: Histories, architecture, and paradoxes of intensive animal farming” in room A-403.

The zootechnical buildings of animal farming are everywhere and, paradoxically, they seem to be nowhere. Also, they are often perceived as anonymous and timeless. Yet, we may ask: How did the architecture of intensive animal farming develop since the late nineteenth century? This talk will briefly explore its geographical and institutional origins, and it will critically analyse the spatial, social, and ethical paradoxes on which the animal-industrial complex is grounded.

The lecture is intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.

Sofia Nannini is an Assistant Professor in architectural history at the Politecnico di Torino. She is author of “Icelandic Farmhouses: Identity, Landscape and Construction (1790-1945)” (Firenze University Press, 2023) and of “The Icelandic Concrete Saga: Architecture and Construction (1847–1958)” (Jovis, 2024). She is currently working on a book project tentatively entitled “The Mechanization of Life: An Architectural History of Intensive Animal Farming”.