Industrial Development

The oldest part of the industrial structure dates back to 1937 – 1940 and was designed by architect Giuseppe De Min. It includes various buildings with different functions and also different forms and volumes, according to the functions they were designed for, but all had red-brick-covered facades.

Next to the entrance doorway, made up of brick-covered columns, were two monumental statues by Leone Lodi created in 1938 and dedicated to agriculture and industry, to underline the dual nature of Torviscosa’s entrepreneurial project. The statue dedicated to agriculture is entitled “La continuità della stirpe nel lavoro” (Work Continues Through the Generations) and shows a woman sitting with a child on her knee and a standing man with a shovel. The statue dedicated to industry shows a horse held by a man and is entitled “Sintesi di Forza, Ragione e Fede” (A Combination of Strength, Reason and Loyalty). Immediately behind the porter’s lodge, the office building was made up of a central portion with three floors and two symmetrical wings leading to the second and first floor. A 1 km long avenue led from the office building, lined by various buildings that made up the cellulose production plant.

A little further away were two Jensen towers destined for the production of calcium bisulphite. The first, further to the north, was built in 1938 while the second was built in 1940 during work to double the size of the plant. The towers are 54 metres high, with a circular plan, and rest on a rectangular base. Their exteriors echo the shape of the Fasces; the blade of the axe that jutted out from the north tower was destroyed by workers on 26th July 1943. The two towers are linked at the top by a horizontal path that was a passageway for those who worked in the department.

The industrial site is still the location of plants that use part of the structures. One of these was purchased by the Bracco Group and restored between 1999 and 2002.