In the 19th century, the production and marketing of wheat led to a radical transformation of the countryside and towns. The need to move and store large quantities of perishable goods in good conditions gave rise to a new type of building: the silo. This presentation will focus on the historical importance of these structures (rural and urban) and the regeneration policies that affect them. Initially, granaries were made of wood and were subject to rapid deterioration. In a second phase, in response to the pressures of grain storage, the use of other materials such as brick was experimented with, leading to concrete in the 20th century. The Modern Movement saw them as emblematic examples of the ‘symbiosis’ between form and function, a model to be analysed and applied in design. The fascination of these structures for architects has endured over time, thanks to the evocative power of form generated by function. The aim of the contribution is to approach the wheat elevators that contributed to the construction of the rural urban landscape of the New World and Europe between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Manuel Vaquero Piñeiro was awarded a Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History by the University of Cantabria (Spain); since 2006, he is an associate professor of economic history at the University of Perugia, Italy (manuel.vaqueropineiro@unipg.it). In 2010, he received the international award, Daria Borghese, for studies on the history of the Renaissance in Rome. Among his main research interests includes the socioeconomic transformation of agriculture.
Barbara Galli is an associate professor at Politecnico di Milano. He received his doctorate from the Politecnico di Torino, she was a young researcher with fellowship (JSPS) at Tsukuba University. She has been a visiting professor at Tongji University in Shanghai.