Marcelo, V.; Faugno, S.; López-Díez, F.J.; Pastrana, P.; Valenciano, J.B. History, Architectural and Technological Characteristics, and Feasibility of Repurposing of Italy’s Ammasso Grain Storage Silos. Preprints2024, 2024021652. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.1652.v1
APA Style
Marcelo, V., Faugno, S., López-Díez, F.J., Pastrana, P., & Valenciano, J.B. (2024). History, Architectural and Technological Characteristics, and Feasibility of Repurposing of Italy’s <em>Ammasso </em>Grain Storage Silos. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.1652.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Marcelo, V., Pablo Pastrana and José B. Valenciano. 2024 "History, Architectural and Technological Characteristics, and Feasibility of Repurposing of Italy’s <em>Ammasso </em>Grain Storage Silos" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.1652.v1
Abstract
The silos built in the 1930s for Italy’s ammasso (obligatory grain stockpile) stood as powerful symbols of the country’s fascist era. Many of them were destroyed in World War II; only a few remain today, and recent demolitions underscore the urgency of their preservation. This study adapts a methodology developed for inventorying Spanish silos based on their general features, construction, technological facilities, and socioeconomic aspects and applies it to the 30 remaining ammasso silos. These silos are located in grain-producing areas near communication routes and are mostly owned by agricultural consortia. Over half of them are disused and in disrepair. All of them have machinery for receiving, storing, and dispatching grain, and most have equipment for cleaning, sorting, weighing, and packaging if needed. These structures are part of Italy’s agro-industrial heritage and should be protected. Some have been made over into commercial spaces, leisure areas, museums, and even homes. Vertical-cell silos are challenging to convert, unlike horizontally-oriented silos and other open-plan agro-industrial buildings. Examples of silo reuse in other countries, such as Spain and Portugal, can offer useful insights for the ammasso silos. However, socio-economic indicators suggest that such projects are most viable in large population centres.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Sustainable Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
