Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - WindowsTechnopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - ColumnTechnopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Facade, Glass, BeamTechnopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Windows, FacadeTechnopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - More Images+ 9

Cadelbosco di Sopra, Italy
  • Project Team: Giacomo Fabbi, Luca Paroli, Marinella Soliani
  • Structural Engineering: Leonardo Berni
  • Timber Structures: Marco Pio Lauriola
  • City: Cadelbosco di Sopra
  • Country: Italy
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Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Facade, Windows
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

Text description provided by the architects. The “Officine Reggiane” represent a significant milestone in the history of Reggio Emilia as an industrial city.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Windows
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

In 1901 the “Officine Righi” chose the Santa Croce suburban area for their industrial settlement, thanks to its proximity to the Ferrovie dello Stato central railway station. In 1904, the name changed into “Officine Meccaniche Reggiane”: the plant started producing rolling stock, and during the First World War the production was converted to weapons and war material, such as cannons and ogives for bullets.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Column
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

In the mid-Thirties the “Officine Reggiane” merged with the industrial group “Caproni” and set up the “Avio” division, a very large war aircraft production department. This kind of wartime production was both appreciated and feared; for this reason, in January 7 and 8, 1944 the Allies decided to carpet-bomb the “Reggiane” area.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Image 11 of 14
Ground Floor Plan

The first settlement of the “Officine Righi” originally employed 62 men; after a few years at least one thousand people worked in the “OMI-Reggiane” factory. Their number raised to five thousand during the First World War, after the wartime conversion, and between 1941 and 1942 the factory workers were more than eleven thousand.  Between 1949 and 1951, a big crisis determined the end of the “Reggiane” glorious life, after a hard class conflict that led to mass layoff. Since the Fifties, the Santa Croce industrial plants kept producing rolling stock and industrial equipment, first for the state-controlled group “EFIM” and later for the “Fantuzzi” group”.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Facade
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

In order to recover an industrial architecture it is essential to understand its significance.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Image 14 of 14
Exploded Axonometric

Research and investigation are used to identify possible future transformations.  The area’s deterioration is viewed as a starting point, in the same way a building in ruins reveals its original composition and structure. The memory of labour sounds, smells, machines, process waste and people are an essential part of industrial architecture sites and buildings. The most significant form of degradation affecting the area of the former “Reggiane” factories is silence.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Windows
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

The degradation faced by “Officine Reggiane” could be described as theatrical, since it is due to the absence of the dynamic component of the place (production - operators), which can be easily replaced with just as many dynamic components (research - students). The memory of the “Reggiane” factories constitutes the static component, as if it were a theatre made of empty volumes, perspectives, tracks, walls and machines worn by time and labour. Trying to transform this scene is akin to modifying its memory and, as a consequence, its reality.

Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto - Windows, Brick
© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

Shed n.19 consists of a large roofing whose figurative and typological features are expressed through the shape of the empty and confined space; for this reason, in order to be consistent with the original structure, space subdivision is realized through structurally and thermally independent modules. As a consequence the available area is incremented and the public space inside is improved.

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Project location

Address:Via Consiglio D'Europa, 1, 42023 Cadelbosco di Sopra RE, Italy

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Technopole for Industrial Research Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto" 02 Sep 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/772846/technopole-for-industrial-research-shed-number-19-andrea-oliva-architetto> ISSN 0719-8884

© Kai-Uwe Schulte-Bunert

意大利工业研究科技城Shed #19 / Andrea Oliva Architetto

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