Project by Andrea Hernandez

The concept of a farm sanctuary arises from empathy, a response to the industrialized cruelty of factory farming. But what if we extended that empathy even further? What if, instead of isolating sanctuaries, we dismantled factory farms entirely and reimagined our cities to accommodate displaced livestock? In New York State alone, nearly 700,000 cows are currently confined within slaughterhouses and dairy farms. Cowlture Shock proposes an urban prototype that relocates and integrates these cows into the fabric of New York City, specifically, the East Village. This neighborhood is an ideal testing ground, historically tied to the meatpacking industry, home to diverse immigrant communities displaced by gentrification (or in this case, gentrificowtion), and now one of the city’s most vegan-friendly areas. The project repositions architecture as a mediator between species, reshaping the built environment to allow for human-cow coexistence. Rooftop gardens and farms would be installed on commercial and mixed-use buildings, enabling cows to participate in the local economy and ecological cycles, while also expanding grazing space. Vertical circulation systems, such industrial elevators, would be reimagined to support cow mobility. Street-level infrastructure would adapt as well. Designated cow lanes and ecological corridors would replace car traffic in certain areas, creating a slower, shared urban rhythm. As new citizens, cows would require dedicated systems of care, labor, and transportation. Community gardens would serve as employment hubs. Special buses and bus stops would be introduced for cow transit. Housing typologies would evolve to reflect cow needs, accommodating herd dynamics and spatial requirements. Waste management becomes a key consideration. Anaerobic digesters installed within buildings would process manure. The objective is not to force cows into a human lifestyle, but to merge our systems with theirs, to meet their needs as fully as we meet our own. It may not be neat or perfect, it is simply integration. This prototype adjusts to these conditions, demonstrating that the extension of empathy leads to radicality.