The paper analyzes the features of the 19th century industrial architecture and the application of metallic structures combined with formal and architectural expressions that frequently concealed or mitigated their presence. The mix of engineering features for the
industrial purpose and familiar perceptions of the traditional architecture is one of the characteristics of this typology. The cases - both belonging to the mining industry of the 1800s - feature both the structural innovations in the use of metallic - masonry structures and formalism that recall the Eclectic and aesthetic motifs as a mean to enhance the industrial function and the technological expression. The metallic elements are in fact frequently employed in the most important sections of the buildings and testify the influences of both the technical advance of the constructive theories and the stylistic formulas that, although belonging
to a more aulic architecture, intensify the productivity and the performances. Finally a proposal of reuse for one of the case study aims to valorize the duplicity of the formal and the technological approach for this typology in order to give a new purpose to this symbol of the industrial epopee.Peer ReviewedPreprin
