Penna brick factory at Scicli: a proposal for a sustainable reuse in Sicily

Nowadays, the recovery of industrial heritage can be considered as one of the most effective strategies of cultural regeneration and revitalization of the urban environment and its surroundings. This heritage of largely abandoned production sites represents the memory of a shared social and economic past. They must be returned to society as a collective cultural heritage, becoming an active part in the construction of sustainable development processes for the local communities. The reflection on the future of Penna brick factory - an imposing complex built in Sicily at the beginning of the twentieth century and currently in a state of total abandonment - is placed precisely in this perspective. The recovery proposal, which is described in the paper, is based primarily on a careful reading of the construction history of the building and of the production story, as elements to be enhanced in design choices. The local debate on the building’s future is lively and it has suggested the reuse as an eco-museum and a civic cultural center. The project proposal, which stops at a preliminary stage, is based on a bottom-up approach and aims, on the one hand, to revitalize the industrial site and on the other hand to re-launch tourism in this area through the activities of the cultural center.