Big Stuff – preserving large machinery as part of our built environment

Alison Wain

doi:10.37190/arc200101

Abstract

This issue of “Architectus” focuses on the particular challenges of preserving and interpreting “big stuff” – large technology objects and the industrial built heritage with which they are often associated.

Large technology objects can broadly be described as those that are too big to fit in showcases, too heavy to be easily moved over museum floors (or even roadways), which have many separate parts and which bring up awkward questions of whether they can or should be operated, or should just be preserved as static displays. The largest of these big machines frequently cross the boundaries between machines and built heritage. A blast furnace, for instance, is a functional machine, but it is also a building in its own right, and raises the question of whether to apply an architectural or an engineering lens to its preservation and interpretation. Other large machines that cross the line between machine and building are transport infrastructure such as ships, trains and aircraft. Many large machines are examples of scientific or military hardware, while machines such as cars, trams, washing machines and large computers have a more domestic or urban context.

Like buildings, large machines become icons in people’s lives – in fact their size means that they are often habitats for people to live and work in and in time become symbols of community and regional identity. This makes their transition from service to heritage particularly important when industries change and move and local communities have to make the decision to either move with them or to stay.

Full article view is only available on bigger screens.