The construction of the modern factory. The introduction of prefabrication in Terra di Lavoro

This paper focuses on the investigation and understanding of the industrial heritage designed and built in the Campania region, between Naples and Caserta, by the most important Italian architects and engineers in the post-war season. The principal aim of this paper is to present the rich and heterogeneous catalogue of factories designed in these years through unpublished drawings and photos from the building sites. These examples show a notion of modularity that brings interesting innovations in terms of on-site prefabrication of modular components and construction systems. The construction of these factories is therefore in contrast with Italy’s traditional building techniques based on craft approach and intense use of labour. The project of these factories is the outcome of the effort of famous architects and engineers, such as Lugi Figini e Gino Pollini, Angelo Mangiarotti, Marco Zanuso, Eduardo Vittoria, and Gigi Ghò, who experimented new structural solutions based on the orderly and coherent composition of prefabricated elements. This research stems from the revitalised interest in studies of prefabrication in Italy between the 50’s and the 70’s of the last century, and is focused on the innovative aesthetics outcomes developed from it. In addition, this paper contributes to evaluate the qualitative connections between construction, geography and labour, assessing the friction between the advanced products and knowledge imported from the North and the agricultural vocation of these regions. The paper will also put in relation the development of prefabrication systems in the less-developed South of Italy in the wider context of the great industrialization boosted by political decisions and the government financial help of the “Cassa del Mezzogiorno”.