How does a factory chimney evolve into a monument?

The resistant industrial heritage communities

Authors

• Anna Sivula

Abstract

How does a Factory Chimney evolve into a Monument? Resistant Industrial Heritage CommunitiesFactory chimneys are important parts of an industrial landscape and they often are preserved, even if the factory around them is demolished. They act as symbols of industrial heritage. The entirety of industrial heritage is socially constructed on the basis of some selected, valued and conserved, tangible or intangible remnants or the leftovers of industrial culture. It demands the social action of remembering the past in order to construct and maintain the industrial heritage. It thus demands a heritage community, elaborating the identities of its members around their shared heritage. This article concerns the factory chimneys as a case study of active industrial heritage communities. In actuality, the process of industrial heritage is a process of elaborating collective and individual identities with different histories, industrial monuments and participatory experiences.