On the other hand, the task is one of making a deliberate choice among a limited number of industrial monuments that are worth preserving for the future and that give a true picture of the industrial development. Striking the right choice is obviously going to be difficult, especially with so many deserving objects clamouring for attention, and these are not only individual buildings and structures, but also massive installations if not whole communities. The conservation of industrial monuments has a long tradition in Sweden. In earlier days it used to be the exclusive concern of a manufacturing industry, especially of some old and large companies who felt they had special obligations. In recent years the State or central government has been contributing more to the conservation cause and is prepared to continue in the same way. Moreover, the rems of reference for the official commission that is mandated to inquire into the financing problems associated with building conservation, call for studying the future care of industrial environments and monuments as well as designating the authority who will be primarily responsible for their continued upkeep.
It is quite obvious that the interest in industrial monuments is rising among those who used to be more passive. More people want to have a say in taking decisions, for instance about the correct selection of industrial monuments worth preserving for the future. This is a development that is eagerly welcomed. Industrialization is really and truly the history of the whole society and of all social groups. Historical knowledge is also a tool that the individual can use to criticize his environment and to learn more about the conditions governing the world of work, and its physical manifestations can also give him increased self-confidence and increased self-insight.
When it was considered imperative around 1900 to preserve specimens of the building and handcraft art achieved by that day’s agrarian society, which was the in proceed of dissolution, a major role was played by the idea of the prototype. One wishes to preserve because the past was admired, because values were seen in it that were considered worth emulating. Industrial monuments cannot be regarded in this way. After all, many of them bear testimony to arduous circumstances, to poverty or back-breaking toil. Others bear witness to class differences or to exploitation of the weak by the strong. These are not the things we want to emulate. But we do want to know, to get the feel of the road we have travelled to reach the present, the better to understand our society, our time and our future.
Kongreswerkgroepen
ALGEMENE WERKGROEPEN
- Aims and techniques of recording as preparation for conservation
- Aims and techniques of recording: instead of conservation
- Aims and techniques of conservation of historic industrial structures and equipment: legislation, planning, finance
- Aims and techniques of conservation of historic industrial structures and equipment: technique
- Interpretation of on site material: to the general public
- Interpretation of on site material: for teaching purposes in schools and universities
- Adaptive re-use of buildings and of industrial landscapes
- Excavation and research in the historical importance and technical significances of particular industrial monuments and sites
- Excavation and research in the interpretation of particular industrial monuments and sites into the general context of social and economic history
SPECIALE WERKGROEPEN
A. Mining industries
B. Iron and steel industries
C. Textile industry
D. Forest industry
E. Power supply
F. Means of transport and water supply
G. Technical innovations
H. The factory system
J. Industrial environment
K. Industrial architecture
L. Working class housing
Van deze werkgroepen zijn thans reeds de meeste inleidende uiteenzettingen in gepolikopiëerde vorm beschikbaar (bibliotheek van de Rijksdienst voor Monumenten en Landschapszorg). De konklusies dienen nog definitief geredigeerd te worden door de werkgroepen-voorzitters en -sekretarissen, en zullen – samen met al de lezingen – uiteindelijk in de handelingen van dit kongres gebundeld worden.
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