Museum of Industrial Heritage

Cities are continuously changing, architecture and  social contexts are always developing.  The industrial areas of  the last century, sited in the urban centres, are among the most rilevant and visible examples of this evolution. Nowadays this peculiar feature of “the old Bologna” is hard to observe for a tourist or a citizen. Using the panoramic image mosaics we show this change in progress, bringing it to the citizens’ attention in order to keep alive the memory of  “The Industrial Sites”.

50 years old biomedical district of Mirandola has faced up to the hardest contest of its history. Mirandola and its neiboroughood became famous all over the world thanks to the undisputed skills together with deep innovation and research of its district. The terrific earthquake on May 2012, tried harshly the municipalities and the several firms of the district. It happened just one month after the begin of the 50th anniversary celebrations: infact, in 1962, the chemist Mario Veronesi created from nothing the first concern. Nevertheless the whole district has demonstrated a strong willing to rebuild and start out again with the industrial activities.

Andrea Romagnoli died in march 2013. He was one of the most leading figure of  Bolognese packaging district. He studied at Aldini Valeriani Technical Institute and worked for a period in A.C.M.A. and GD. In 1962 Romagnoli founded IMA. When Vacchi family took the control of the firm Romagnoli kept the office of director inside the Department of Develop and Research. In 1993 Romagnoli left IMA to face up a new challenge in Tecnomeccanica. Inventor and owner of  more than 100 patents, during his life of engineer and manager has shown a great passion for innovation and persistent willing to test and to experiment, always challenging his competitors with new ideas.

Inside the Museum of the Industrial Heritage it was organized the third edition of the temporary exhibition “Sculpture and Concerns”. The works in exhibition are a marriage between art and production. The artist has worked using components and materials provided by local firms. The artist has also visited the factories in order to make the best choice. The topic for this year is the cycle of “Plants with Seed”, inspired by the nature’s teachings: as a big plant originates from a little seed, concerns originate from little opportunities.

In the second half of XV century some men of extraordinary intelligence find home and protection at Battista Sforza’s court in Urbino. There they defined the basic role of engineering in order to express the completeness of the human being who has the power to think and do, leaving a deep mark in history. Witness of that glorious age, a sequence of magnificent representations of machines stands as ornament of the Palazzo Ducale facade. Francesco di Giorgio was the leader of the entire project. The comparison among three different manuscripts has allowed to reconstruct the preliminary phases of the project.

Curtisa, a firm established in Bologna in 1929, gained  the leading role in metal frame and casing sector during the first part of the 20th century. Curtisa overcame the competitors  and its products became very popular as symbol of warranty and high quality in Italy and abroad.

The article concerns the life of Bruto Carpigiani (1903-1945), since his debut in A.C.M.A., where he was in charge of Technical Department. Here he establishes himself as a brilliant engineer and designer of automatic machines. In this period he invented a machine able to produce gelato. After Bruto’s death, his brother Poerio started a production planning of the Bruto’s “gelato machine”. This was the begin of Carpigiani firm. A certain prominence is also given to historical context, a period of great increase as for the local industrial development.

The DeVision project has been set up to arouse a great deal of interest about local design and industry, involving a new generation of talented young people. Students of Bologna Free University of Arts (L.UN.A.) produced several works characterized by the creation of new visual marks and created using recyclable materials. The Museum of Industrial Heritage was the heart of this first edition.