Analysis of Industrial Architectural Heritage – Iron and Steel Plants as a Development Potential

Abstract

The urgency of recording and preserving the physical evidence of Slovakia's disappearing industrial heritage is prompted by the recent dramatic demolitions of many production buildings and even whole industrial sites. Accompanying architectural discussion confirmed the lack of systematic mapping and evaluation of our industrial heritage and furthermore that the traditional heritage conservation approaches do not offer sufficient tools to preserve and evaluate this remains of our industrial history.This study is focused on the industrial architecture of historical iron and steel plants that were in operation in the territory of Slovakia between the years 1800 – 1948. The aim of this paper is to analyse the architectural and urban characteristics and common features of observed historical ironworks as a support for the protection and interpretation activities. The paper is divided into several parts: 1. A description of the architectural and urban development of the iron industry in Slovakia with regard to the development of technical and technological processes; 2. A categorisation and an analyse of typological characteristics; 3. A report on the current state of 127 historical locations of iron production.For many centuries, iron production was contributing to a social and economic development of all of the current Slovak state formations. Although the history of this industry in Slovakia is relatively well explored and published, the architectural and urban characteristic of these industrial sites is practically unknown. Nowadays, the abandoned buildings and sites of this production sector are a new attribute of our settlements. All of them offer the opportunity for reuse. The potential of their successful urban reintegration is subject to the understanding of their historic and heritage values accompanied by the complex research.