


The project is an ironic investigation of how humans relate to farm animals-more specifically, how the ongoing spatial separation between humans and the animals they rely on for food and other forms of agricultural work can make animals seem to be nothing more than utilitarian machines.

In the architects' words:



Farmland World makes the human-animal encounter spectacular, proposing an absurdly over-the-top farm animal theme park-a "human/machine/animal hybrid adventure-land."

"Farmland World "is a chain of agro-tourist resorts sprinkled across the American Midwestern countryside":



As train-loads of itinerant fantasy farmers arrive," Newmeyer and Hicks drily write, "they are herded to the Grazing Coliseum to receive their complimentary overalls. From there, the adventure begins."




Inflatable mega-pigs and hollow, roving "cow combines" act as "robotic performers," in the designers' words. Animal replicants, these false creatures "extend the tradition of machines using and mimicking animals for moving, operating, branding and processing food crops."

Meanwhile, the architect adds, "temporary farm excursionists"-paying visitors-"work, sowing and harvesting fields, becoming part of the herd. Farmland World embraces this hybrid human-animal-machine relationship, reinvigorating the rural landscape."

As you can see in the project's overall guide, there are a whole series of these giant robot animals. A "chicken planter" stands beside a mechanical "sheep baaaler," which, in turn, is neighbors with a pig plow and a mechanical horse that spreads real horse manure from its techno-derriere. Think of it as Westworld in an age of vast industrial farming-a livestock Disneyland.

On the project plan, you'll also see such places as "Beeville" and "Veggie Row," the latter promising an internally-animated range of machine-plants sprouting from beds of artificial soil.


To go from this-a bovine proto-cyborg-to Design With Company's beautifully rendered "Farmland World" doesn't actually seem like such a stretch.




This post originally appeared on BLDBLOG. Images: "Farmland World" by Design With Company (Allison Newmeyer and Stewart Hicks).