Architettura e costruzione per l’industria agro-alimentare in Italia. Il caso di Udine (1920-26)

The new needs that arose with the rapid urban and technological development that followed the Industrial Revolution made it necessary to introduce new urban facilities, such as markets, aqueducts, gasworks, slaughterhouses, throughout the territory, but above all in the city. Soon they become the new poles of urban development and experimental construction sites that marked the transition from traditional techniques to the new frontiers offered by industry and bear witness to the economic and social transformations of the territory. The Slaughterhouse of Udine and the Refrigerator of Friuli are a significant example of the structures born to support the rapid expansion of urban centres which projected them beyond the historical limits of the walls. They also link theory and practice: for their realization the most avant-garde systems were put in place, in addition to innovative materials and construction techniques, hybridized with those of tradition, achieving the right balance between functionality, efficiency and artistic expression. The paper collects part of the results of an ongoing research within the University of Padua and Udine relating to the study of the typological and constructive features of industrial buildings in the agri-food sector, with particular attention to the Verona, Padua and Udine case studies.