Can social significance be a good reason for the restoration of industrial buildings? The case of Borghetto’s warehouse (Brescia, Italy) - the reuse of a redundant industrial building

The province of Brescia underwent very considerable development due to the industrialisation that took place since the second half of the eighteenth century. Nowadays, redundant and decommissioned industrial buildings constitute a large part of the heritage of our built environment, in both urban and suburban areas. As time passes, these buildings are becoming more difficult to manage. They belong to an age which, measured in terms of time, is not far from ours; but at the same time, due to the rapid evolution of technology, the buildings are now far away in terms of usefulness. These structures often take on conflicting meanings, from the fascination of ruins to the memory of special moments in an otherwise difficult life, full of physical and psychological sacrifice. The demolition of numerous industrial buildings – which took place due to the enthusiasm for regaining urbanised spaces within the city or as urban cleansing of run-down areas – heightened awareness amongst professionals that the heritage of industrial buildings was gravely threatened. ‘Loss’ means not only the simple cancellation of architectonic areas, but above all the elimination of a material and immaterial cultural heritage of a more recent past.