S. Samuel V. Roqueñí 

ssamuelvroq@gmail.com 318261645@pcpuma.acatlan.unam.mx 

The industry is the anthropogenic activity that through the transformation of natural resources seeks to provide solutions to basic or created needs over time.  We usually understand heritage as the succession of goods within the family, but nowadays heritage is also places, objects, infrastructures, etc. that through time have generated an intrinsic value for villages, nations or regions of the world.

Industrial Heritage 

The Industrial Heritage is defined by the Spanish National Plan for Industrial Heritage as:

 “Industrial heritage is understood as the set of movable and immovable assets and systems of sociability related to the culture of work that have been generated by the activities of extraction, transformation, transport, distribution and management generated by the economic system arising from the “industrial revolution”.”

It also emphasizes that such assets should be understood as an integrated system in the environment, in other words, they are not only isolated buildings or objects but they interact and are immersed in the perception of the environment and form a representative part of the environment. The importance of industrial heritage lies in history, space, society and technology.

The industrial heritage are memory entities, traces and historical testimonies associated with a system or form of work, discipline or scientific activity related to labor culture.  

These systems are constantly being updated, so their useful life is relatively short and disposable. The industrial heritage faces the situation of acquiring an inevitable obsolescence and subsequent disappearance.  

The challenge for the industrial heritage is to change the perception of the society when seeing these elements, at the moment that the society appropriates the industrial sets or elements as part of its history and more important, as part of its environment, it will be in that moment where it acquires a recognition of the value contributed to the environment. 

Clearly the industrial heritage does not have an aesthetic similar to that of a cathedral or a palace, rather it should be observed from the characteristics of antiquity, technique and the social, economic and technological set developed in the site.  

Within these elements or sets that interact and are part of the environment, we can highlight the real estate, movable and intangible assets, we will focus on the real estate, with special attention to the industrial elements. Such industrial elements by nature or because they are the last vestige of the industrial activity carried out exemplify the history, technology and other characteristics of the activity carried out in that site years ago.

Garden of the Rastro-Madrid.

The old gas factory of Madrid, built in 1848 to satisfy the need for lighting in the Spanish capital, was able to light Paseo del Prado, Calle del Prado and Calle del Lobo by 1847 by means of a pipeline. By 1967, due to electrification and the low volume of private demand for gas, it was closed for subsequent demolition. 

At present, an industrial element remains as an exponent of what was the activity carried out on the site, characteristic for its height, materials and example of industrial elements of world reference, it is the chimney of the factory. 

The chimney, as an industrial element, immersed in the environment of the city is a clear example of the industrial footprint in the Spanish capital. The chimney is not protected as industrial heritage or as an industrial element, however the chimney is part of the space called “Jardín del Rastro”. The action of preservation of the industrial heritage is intrinsically realized by preserving this industrial element in a new environment of recreational use for the community. 

It is a great success, but the next step would be to give value or promote the entity of this industrial history represented by the chimney, to seek the appropriation of the environment beyond the physical space.

Ex-Progreso Industrial paper mill.

This is an industrial complex developed at the end of the 19th century in what is today the municipality of Nicolas Romero in the State of Mexico. The industry generated the creation of the town of “Progreso Industrial” where mainly its workers lived. The Progreso Industrial factory was the fourth factory in the municipality, also extending the railroad to its location, transforming the environment and the future situation for the town. By 1993 the factory closed for good. 

At present only the remains of the buildings, accesses and the factory’s chimney are left, the property has been abandoned without a specific use.

A good example that was a consequence of an industrial activity was the creation of communities, customs, technology and “Progress” for the nascent locality by this activity. 

In the memory of the community and patron saint festivities the factory is slightly remembered; but without this industrial activity the environment would not have been modified, the history that the community and the municipality have today would not have been created.

Understanding the historical and social importance that transcended in the municipality, it should be the complex of this factory denominated as industrial patrimony. Try to recover the historical value and share it with the community to regain ownership of the complex and give it the value it deserves. Once the value is understood, we should turn to see the alternatives of conservation and clearly of usable use of this space, today abandoned, so that through industrial elements such as the chimney, doors and fragments of the industrial buildings it can be adapted for the benefit of the community and show the importance that this industrial activity took in the past and what repercussions it had until today.

To conclude, the industrial heritage is the footprint of economic and social development, which must coexist with today’s environment. 

The challenge is to raise public knowledge of its value and the need for its conservation.