Derelict land. Una riflessione sulle fabbriche abbandonate nel territorio biellese

The marks left on the ground by the industrial history are a distinctive feature of the Biella landscape. The nineteenth-century origins of the first wool entrepreneurial adventures produced obsolete structures already in the last century, triggering an initial interest in the recovery and enhancement of “historic factories”. Starting from studies about deindustrialization and the effects of the subsequent process of abandonment, the article examines the need to reflect on the presence of abandoned areas, taking into account not only their heritage but also the repercussions on the lives of the inhabitants. Through the meanings that can be found in artistic productions such as movies or novels, and from the description of the “social ruins” caused by the loss of work, an anthropological research path is traced to give voice to the community and to the “cultural drama” caused by a long period of transition [Dudley 1997]