Archival research for mapping and analysing a standardized building typology

archival research for mapping and analysing a standardized building typology

The case of grain silos built in Italy during the 1930s

Stefania Landi (ICOMOS Italia)

In this lesson we addresses the challenges related to archival research about standardized building typologies, focusing on the grain silos built in Italy during the 1930s. The construction of modern grain silos, which fascinated the masters of the Modern Movement, as Reyner Banham investigated, represented a huge challenge for designers and construction companies all over the word, but also a unique opportunity to experiment reinforced concrete.

The construction of modern grain silos in Italy started to be strongly promoted in 1932, as a consequence of the autarchic policies imposed by the regime and then, received a strong impetus in 1936, with the transformation of grain storages from voluntary to mandatory. The mapping of the Italian grain silos, performed for the first time as part of the author’s research, was made possible by combining information from different archival sources, preserved in the Archive of Federconsorzi, the National Federation of Agricultural Consortia entrusted by the regime to coordinate the grain storage activities, and also in different local/regional public archives.

The types of materials identified are notary deeds, correspondence, original project drawings, reports, historical photos and advertising leaflets. The analysis of such sources allowed to obtain unvaluable information about designers, construction companies and actors involved, as well as about construction materials, techniques and procedures. The coeval bibliographic sources (manuals and specialistic journals) were found to be of crucial importance too, they allowed, indeed, to identify most of the silos spread over the national territory. Many other silos were identified thanks to historical postcards, as well as to recent pictures on social media and newspaper articles.
The analysis of the identified silos is crucial to understand the multiple values that these buildings embody, which is a necessary step for developing proper conservation and rehabilitation strategies.