Tipologias da arquitetura industrial : o caso italiano - da protoindústria a meados do século XX

Abstract

Industrial architecture, defined by its close relationship with the modes and means of production throughout their various phases, from proto-industry to the present day, remains a field still insufficiently systematized from a typological perspective. Although its buildings reveal recurring formal solutions and are configured according to specific compositional logics, the absence of consistent analytical categories limits their understanding as autonomous architectural expressions. Within this context, this research is dedicated to the construction of industrial architectural typologies, based primarily on the typological studies developed by Gianfranco Caniggia and Gian Luigi Maffei, originally focused on the analysis of basic building types. The study focuses on Italian industrial architecture, from the earliest examples associated with the proto-industrial period to the mid-twentieth century, the phase of consolidation of the country’s industrialization, covering different regions. Based on empirical surveys, bibliographic analysis, and the application of concepts such as typological process, derivation, and co-presence, as presented by Caniggia and Maffei, twelve industrial building types were identified, defined according to their spatial and formal characteristics, in addition to twenty-three types of industrial complexes, based on the reflections of Olawale Adisa Odeleye and Pablo Aleksitch Padin, related to the compositional organization of productive units. The adopted methodological approach enabled the identification of patterns and variations, revealing the coexistence of different building logics within a single industrial complex, characterized by the presence of buildings from different periods, incorporated into the whole through successive transformations. By understanding built form as an expression of the historical processes of construction, use, and transformation of industrial architecture, the research contributes to the historiography of industrial architecture and proposes an analytical tool applicable both to the critical interpretation of existing buildings and to the formulation of design strategies. The proposed typologies thus constitute an intersection between theory, historical analysis, and design practice, reaffirming the importance of industrial architecture as a legitimate object of study, interpretation, and recognition as built heritage.