What we call heritage is the result of a series of cultural and subjective conventions. Objects or buildings that were not valued at all in other times are, over time, elevated and protected. It is therefore a concept that varies based on the parameters used to value an asset during each historical period or moment. An example of its mutability is the change in appreciation that medieval heritage underwent: it went from absolute disdain to revaluation and recovery. Heritage is thus an inheritance that society decides to preserve for transmission. The concept of Heritage itself has varied since its initial consideration as artistic heritage, later historic-artistic heritage, until today's broad designation of cultural heritage, which contemplates intangible heritage. This process was experienced by industrial assets. From their appearance, through obsolescence and abandonment, passing through safeguarding and valuation, to finally reach a theoretical formulation of their concept: chronological, spatial, and thematic delimitation of what is considered industrial heritage.
Today's so-called industrial heritage encompasses in its definitions all assets arising from the Industrial Revolution, a historical moment initiated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom that changed European life, production, economy, consumption, and society. New architectural typologies and urban layouts emerged in response to new population needs: it was necessary to house workers near productive centers, whether factories or mines.
Although museums with collections related to science and industry already existed from the late 18th century (very much in line with the Enlightenment spirit), these museums were focused on the conservation of movable heritage. (Examples include the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers of Paris, established in 1794, and the Deustches Museum of Munich, founded in 1906). After World War II, the systematic destruction of those industrial and iron architectures that had survived standing marked a turning point in the consideration of these constructions. People saw disappearing buildings and places that they had used and which had shaped their way of life. For the first time in history, society felt an almost emotional, nostalgic connection to contemporary assets without artistic value, considering them part of its cultural heritage. During this period in Europe, popular movements and conservation associations emerged focused on safeguarding immovable industrial monuments. The most paradigmatic cases are the movements for the preservation of the Euston Station arch in London, finally demolished in 1962, and the market of Les Halles in Paris.
The emergence of industrial archaeology as a new discipline, whose birth was parallel and reciprocal to the concept of industrial heritage, was essential for the recognition and safeguarding of material remains from industrialization. It emerged in the United Kingdom, home to the oldest assets of the Industrial Revolution, in relation with the first conservationist movements and associations of these assets. Thus it became a discipline closely linked to architecture and monuments, as its primary concern was to preserve "everything that could not be moved to museums." A trio of authors connected to academia but not directly to history or archaeology were responsible for its early theoretical formulations: Rix, Hudson, and Buchanan. The first author to use the term Industrial Archaeology was Michael Rix, an English literature professor at the University of Birmingham, who wrote in 1955 an article titled Industrial Archaeology in the journal The Amateur Historian, urging the protection, inventorying, and study of assets from the first Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. In 1958, the Industrial Archaeological Research Committee was established under the Council for British Archaeology; this institution put the young discipline into practice by creating inventories of industrial assets for further study and developing the Survey of Industrial Monuments. In 1963, BBC writer and journalist Kenneth Hudson (1916-1999) defined industrial archaeology in his book Industrial Archaeology. An Introduction, indicating that its purpose was primarily cataloging but without specifying a specific period for study. The third important author is Robert Angus Buchanan from the University of Bath, whose most notable publication is Industrial Archaeology in Britain (1972).
Gradually, this academic advocacy led to the creation of associations or museums around assets to be protected; an example being the opening in 1967 of the Ironbridge Gorge Trust Museum, known as "the birthplace of industry," which houses the world's oldest iron bridge, dating from between 1776 and 1779.
Between the decades of 1960 and 1970 industrial archaeology began to take shape as a discipline, defining its concept, methodology, and sources. Gradually schools emerged according to countries and positions, dividing into France, Great Britain, and Italy. While the main debates centered on defining the chronology and subject of this archaeology, the debate ceased when international organizations entered the scene issuing charters, recommendations, regulations, and guidelines officially defining what Industrial Heritage is, what Industrial Archaeology is, as well as how to value and protect this heritage. However, industrial archaeology, like archaeology in general, focuses on studying material remains of the past for understanding them, leaving out other aspects that cannot be studied with archaeological methods. Industrial heritage combines tangible and intangible elements, constructions, and their context. It is not just about buildings but also about their relationship to the environment, nature, landscape, and populations where they integrate, as well as the memory of work carried out there.
The TICCIH (International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage, in its English acronym), was created in 1978, during the celebration in Stockholm of the Third International Congress on the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (organized since 1973 by the Ironbridge Gorge Trust Museum). It is an organization that collaborates with ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and UNESCO in proposing heritage for the World Heritage List. In 2003, UNESCO published the Nizhny Tagil Charter for Industrial Heritage, which defines it as follows:
Industrial heritage consists of the remains of industrial culture that have historical, technological, social, architectural or scientific value. These remains include buildings and machinery, workshops, mills and factories, mines and sites for processing and refining, warehouses and storage facilities, places where energy is generated, transmitted and used, means of transport and all its infrastructure, as well as locations where activities related to industry are carried out, such as housing, religious worship or education.
And establishes the timeline: The historical period of primary interest extends from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century to the present day. Although its pre-industrial and proto-industrial roots are also studied. In addition, it involves studying work and labor techniques surrounded by history and technology.
This is the starting point on which all documents and recommendations for safeguarding Industrial Heritage issued by various international organizations over the past few decades have been built to be included in national heritage laws, and in Spain's case, regional laws. A new type of Cultural Heritage had emerged.
Conclusion
The concept of Industrial Heritage is relatively recent and encompasses both movable and immovable assets arising from the Industrial Revolution in its definition. It is a different type of heritage, as its valuation criteria differ from those traditionally considered under cultural heritage concepts. From the late 1960s onwards, some countries developed an awareness about the vestiges of the beginning of the industrial era, referring to them for the first time as "heritage." This was when measures were taken by organizations such as UNESCO or ICOMOS to draft conventions and recommendations aimed at defining, delimiting, identifying, and preserving industrial heritage. Today it can be said that the valuation of industry-related assets is on the rise. There is increasing awareness about the need to safeguard these assets as part of contemporary history's legacy, as a witness to recent past. However, there are numerous threats facing these assets: without adequate societal sensitization towards contemporary vestiges of industrialization and, of course, minimal legal protection measures, these assets remain at the mercy of land laws and urban planning regulations. Thus many remains are plundered and demolished under the guise of legality.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- BUCHANAN, Robert Angus. Industrial archaeology in Britain. Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972. ISBN 0140214135.
- "Nizhny Tagil Charter on Industrial Heritage". Moscow. July 17, 2003. In ICOMOS. [accessed: June 13, 2022]. Available at: international.icomos.org/18thapril/2006/nizhny-tagil-charter-sp.pdf
- CERDÀ PÉREZ, Manuel. Industrial archaeology: theory and practice. Valencia: University of Valencia, 2011. ISBN 8437084482.
- CHOAY, Françoise. Allegory of heritage. Madrid: Editorial Gustavo Gili, S.L., 2007. ISBN 8425222362.
- HUDSON, Kenneth. Industrial Archaeology: an introduction. London: Routledge, 2014. ISBN 1317598164.
- MACARRÓN, Ana and MOZO, Ana G. Conservation and restoration in the 20th century. Madrid: Tecnos, 2004. ISBN 9788430941360.
- "Joint ICOMOS-TICCIH Principles for the conservation of industrial sites, structures, areas and landscapes". Dublin. November 28, 2011. In: TICCIH-Spain. [accessed: June 15, 2022]. Available at: http://ticcih.es/criterios-conjuntos-de-icomosticcih-para-la-conservacion-del-patrimonio-industrial
- RIX, Michael. "Industrial Archaeology". In: The Amateur Historian. 1955, vol. 2, no. 8, p.225-229
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