The Material Technosystem of Cattle Farming

We interpret the architecture of the dairy barn as an interplay of zootechnical knowledge, hygiene practices, and metabolic and thermodynamic processes, as well as a stage where animal and human labor is subsumed by capital. By analyzing historical and contemporary zootechnical handbooks, manufacturer’s records, catalogs, brochures, advertisements, and other industrial sources, we aim to narrate a multifaceted history of the diverse trends and shifts in the architecture of dairy cattle farming that emerged con- currently across different fields and locations, under the influence of techno-scientific advances, material science, climate, regulations on animal welfare and food safety, and digitalization.