The volponi’s kiln in urbino. Industrial archeology and historic landscape in the cradle of the Renaissance. Documentation, survey and drawing

The Volponi’s kiln is an historic brick factory placed at the Urbino city gates, in the middle of an imaginary line that links the Santa Chiara’s convent and the St. Bernardino’s church. Both these two buildings frame this important industrial archaeological object and make of it the bridge between the historic centre and the surrounding countryside. The kiln is really the key to the reading for all the landscape that accommodates the cradle of the Renaissance. The sight and the perception of Urbino, for those who come from the valley bottom, are strongly marked by the kiln itself; this extends its chimney towards the ancient city walls in a way that resembles an historical competition of strong symbolic value with the Torricini of the Ducal Palace. The former is the symbol of the unstoppable rise of the new industrial production; the latter is the symbol of military power, almost worn and bowed to the sophisticated and intellectual society of the new urban and Renaissance culture, which was given back in its delicate shapes by the Laurana courtyard. Thanks to the surveying of this factory we want to understand its role and its relations with the city and the landscape. In this way, the work is a part of a wider remark on the heritage of the industrial properties; this heritage, in sociological and traditional respects, represents the possibility of the recovery of recent history events that have been entrusted to the memory of those who inspired industry with their work.