With the restoration project, we aimed to restore the memory of a building that is important not so much for its “beauty,” but as a testament to the function it once served.
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The Existing Condition
Only a few elements of the old furnace remained: the chimney, half demolished, and the combustion chambers. The roofing structures had already been completely removed. From the outset, the precarious state of the building was evident, primarily due to its degradation but also to the typical construction characteristics of furnaces. The load-bearing structures consisted of two layers of bricks with compacted earth in between. Even the buttresses, which appeared solid, were made of brick and stone walls filled with earth. The combustion chambers were entirely covered by a layer of earth, in some places up to a meter and a half thick.
The deterioration caused by years of abandonment further worsened the building’s condition. Water infiltration due to the collapse of the roofing, frost, and the presence of organic material were the main sources of decay. In the combustion chambers, recurring flooding had eroded large sections of the lower walls, while capillary action had affected all the brick walls, which were disintegrating and covered with efflorescence. The presence of soil inside the structure had encouraged the widespread growth of vegetation, with roots invading all parts of the building.
The barrel vaults showed significant sagging, with some sections having completely collapsed. The chimney, although structurally sound, had its surface covered with mold and salt efflorescence.
Why restore a ruin that had almost entirely collapsed, a building without any artistic or monumental significance? Why preserve such a cumbersome structure within a rapidly transforming area? These were the questions we immediately faced, yet they sparked a series of answers that ultimately became the guiding thread for our restoration project.
With the restoration project, we aimed to revive the memory of a building significant not for its “beauty,” but as a testament to the function it once served. A presence worth preserving as a symbol of a proto-industrial culture that fostered the social development of a community. It’s fascinating to note that in the same location, both in the past and today, there stands a building dedicated to productive activities
With these premises, we had no choice but to limit the intervention to consolidating the existing condition, eliminating sources of decay, and confining reconstruction to small sections. The process began by removing the insulating soil to reduce the load on the structures. This exposed the extrados of the vaults, which were structurally reinforced by manually repointing all the joints with a special lime-based binder mixed with crushed brick. Some small collapsed sections of the vaults were rebuilt using the traditional centering method. We also managed to restore several of the original ventilation chimneys from the combustion chambers, complete with their cast iron caps, which were once used to control and regulate the heat inside the furnace.
The buttresses were preserved despite their precarious condition. Removing them would have altered the building’s structural stability and compromised the integrity of the thermal insulation system. Instead, we applied a waterproof structural plaster to them, preventing water from coming into contact with the insulating earth inside.
Industrial Archaeology Redevelopment - Parietti Furnace
Year:
2003
CLIENT:
Impresa F.lli Rota Nodari
LOCATION:
Almenno San Bartolomeo (BG)