Archinect - News2024-09-07T19:46:53-04:00https://archinect.com/news/article/150338685/the-new-face-of-dystopian-architecture-is-china-s-massive-high-rise-pig-farm
The new face of dystopian architecture is… China’s massive high-rise pig farm Josh Niland2023-02-12T08:00:00-05:00>2024-01-23T19:16:08-05:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/d9/d93667892b66406f52aa3d68185eb0d4.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Inside the edifice, which resembles the monolithic housing blocks seen across China and stands as tall as the London tower that houses Big Ben, the pigs are monitored on high-definition cameras by uniformed technicians in a NASA-like command center. Each floor operates like a self-contained farm for the different stages of a young pig’s life: an area for pregnant pigs, a room for farrowing piglets, spots for nursing and space for fattening the hogs.</p></em><br /><br /><p>A 26-story structure is, of course, the world’s tallest free-standing pig farm, according to the <em>Times</em>. It will be joined by a twin hog-raising center in October. The draconian forms are evocative of the measures required by China’s status as the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1286438/china-per-capita-meat-consumption-by-type/" target="_blank">world’s largest</a> consumer of pork products and gaps in <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3204539/chinas-xi-jinping-repeats-call-food-security-us-rivalry-and-external-uncertainties-grow" target="_blank">food production</a> that must be hastily accounted for through such construction. (Not to instantiate that Western <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJiNC_7wuw" target="_blank">methods</a> of agricultural production can't be equally heinous and unsavory by their own merits.) </p>
<p>As Orwell wrote, pigs are the <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/pig-intelligence/" target="_blank">cleverest</a> of animals.</p>