Introduction
Starting in the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution brought the beginning of great changes to the pre-existing landscapes of Europe, which had barely changed since the transformations characteristic of the Middle Ages. In this process of change, new and sometimes majestic manufacturing areas arose, roads opened, population centres associated with manual labour were formed, cities expanded significantly as a result of migratory flows and residential and recreational centres appeared for the new industrial bourgeoisie. Closely linked with these new landscapes, non-productive infrastructure like ports, railways and canals appeared.
Whether unused or rehabilitated for functions and uses linked especially with the tertiary sector, industrial landscapes are a rich collective legacy of great historical, aesthetic, symbolic and identity-related value and offer us a magnificent opportunity for learning about history through the landscape.
This dossier aims to:
- Disseminate the existence of industrial landscapes and their diversity, with special impact on those of Catalonia.
- Disseminate initiatives, organisations and works on industrial landscapes.
- Collect, classify, order and provide the public with the main information on the landscapes of the world available on the Internet, including the organisations and institutions dealing with the subject.
- Become a reference on the subject of industrial landscapes for specialists and the general public.
In line with these objectives, this document is divided into six different sections: the first one containing general information that gives a broad perspective on the state of landscape and industrial heritage around the world; the second dedicated to organisations and agencies working in this field; the third covering museums created around old industrial heritage and archaeological sites; the fourth bringing together routes through industrial landscapes and complexes around the world; the fifth highlighting initiatives aimed at disseminating and recovering industrial heritage and the sixth containing articles related with the subject of industrial landscapes and heritage.
Two considerations must be made with respect to the content of this document. First, the term industrial heritage is used for specific examples of industrial architecture as well as industrial structures and complexes and industrial landscapes. The dossier has prioritised those sites that relate industrial elements to the construction and management of a landscape, meaning industrial landscapes, while leaving out other websites more focused on describing and recovering isolated industrial pieces or architectural elements, to the extent possible. Second, the dossier is centred on websites about industrial landscapes created during the industrial revolution, omitting, with few exceptions, industrial landscapes originating in more recent times such as industrial estates, proto-industrial estates or salt mines created prior to the industrial revolution.
It must be noted that only projects, institutions, centres and initiatives that have an active website have been included. Unfortunately, this criterion inevitably excludes any other information of great interest on the subject of industrial landscapes that cannot be consulted over the Internet.
The Landscape Observatory would be grateful to anybody who reads this dossier for sending us the suggestions that they deem appropriate. This is the best way to complete information that does not intend to be exhaustive.
This dossier was created with the collaboration of U50mil, Planejament territorial S.C.P.