Dismantlement
audio
The crisis of the steel industry and the shipbuilding sector at the European level in the 1980s caused the closure of numerous companies directly and indirectly related to these industries. This generated unemployment and economic instability in the affected areas, and the left bank was one of the most brutal hit. The dismantling of the industry and the demolition of iconic buildings is a subsequent process involving destroying machinery, equipment, documentation and structures.
The Altos Hornos de Vizcaya facilities were dismantled during the restructuring of the steel industry in the mid-1990s. Blast Furnace No. 1, turned off in 1995, is the only remaining standing. It was a twin to Blast Furnace No. 2, sold for scrap. Also lost was Blast Furnace 2A, better known as Mariángeles, which Arcelor Mittal moved to Hazira, India.
Properly managing the remains of industrial activity is crucial to giving meaning to our History. The dismantling and widespread demolition of heritage entails oblivion and denial. The remains of industrial heritage define the identity of the people who worked in the industries and their families. It is the setting and the distinctive features of a landscape where there was a specific way of living and fighting for people’s rights. Preserving it shows an attitude of respect for the world that made us what we are.
Respecting industrial heritage is a way of giving value to the culture, the memory of work and the knowledge of an entire era. Recognizing and enhancing the most significant elements of our most recent past is necessary as an unequivocal testimony of our social identity. This is the differentiating element, our “here and now”, compared to the uniformity of a global world.
This museum aims to make our industrial past known and raise awareness of the importance of preserving this type of heritage elements in our environment to reinforce the identity of the people who lived here and as an integration factor for people who come from other places.
The video is a derivative of the work “No Monuments” by the artist Alberto Salcedo, edited by the filmmaker Itxaso Díaz and aims to fight against forgetfulness, reclaiming our industrial past.
This creative work is built from unpublished material from the Industrial Ruins Demolition Program developed by the Territorial Planning Department of the Basque Government between 1992 and 2013.
This program financed the demolition of 170 obsolescent industrial buildings, including factories of historical importance such as Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, Babcock & Wilcox, Astilleros Euskalduna or Sefanitro. The most recent demolition has been the almost total dismantling of historic La Naval buildings and their cranes.
The video compiles the preparatory and execution moments of some of these demolitions, as well as the messages that, like a mantra, have permeated an amnesiac society of industrial memory: “Demolish and clean everything”, “We must radically change and soon the image”, “More than 2,000 million pesetas in 2 years”, “Widespread demolition of obsolete facilities”, “Only in this way will the collective will for global renewal be confirmed”…
The work challenges us with the phrase Let’s fight against forgetfulness!
