Prof. Massimo Preite from the University of Florence will give an open lecture entitled „Industrial Heritage – the essence, definitions, attributes, categories, understanding of resources”, which will take place under cooperation with the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The lecture is organised by the College of Individual Interdicsiplinary Studies as part of the module „Industrial heritage – essence, contexts, manners of use”.
The subject of the lecture is industrial heritage, which iss a significannt part of the world’s cultural heritage. Many industrial sites have been turned into tourist attractions, popular places for culture, art, entertainment and leisure. The approach to the material and non-material heritage of the industrial revolution has changed over the last 50 years. It evolved from the total lack of understanding of the value of such resources to the full acceptance and recognition. Nowadays, the value of industrial heritage is already noticed by various circles, although they are still sometimes regarded as as a barrier for development or worthless „post-industrial remains”. For tourists and visitors, they are an element of the offer for spending free time, whereas for business they are a valuable resource in building the company’s image, and for scientists and experts they constitute an object of interdisciplinary research on the phenomenon of industrial culture. Adopting the holistic approach and taking into consideration the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon, it cannot be ignored in the conscious management of cultural heritage resources, or in the social and economic development of post-industrial areas.
The meeting will be held on Zoom and available for all interested individuals.
Lecturer’s bio
He is associate professor of Urban Planning in the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence as well as vice president of the Italian Association for the Industrial Archaeological Heritage (AIPAI), board member of The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) and board member of the European Route for the Industrial Heritage (ERIH).
His research interests and project activities focus on urban planning, cultural heritage conservation and industrial site regeneration, and he has authored many publications on these topics, in Italy and abroad. He has taken part in putting forward some industrial heritage sites for the UNESCO World Heritage List. As an advisor for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), he has evaluated the nominations of some mining archaeological sites for the UNESCO World Heritage List.