veredes, arquitectura y divulgación VADo2 Los Prototipos | Page 96

VAD. 02 | Diciembre 2019 | ISSN 2659-9139 e-ISSN 2659-9198 ISSN 2659-9139 e-ISSN 2659-9198 | Diciembre 2019 | 02.VAD The origins of the “Leões” flour and pasta factory. The present of the Arts and Architecture School of the University of Évora (Portugal) Los orígenes de la fábrica de harina y pasta “Leões”. El presente de la Escuela de Arte y Arquitectura de la Universidad de Évora Ana Cardoso de Matos | Sheila Palomares A. | Armando Quintas Abstract Recibido: 2019.05.31 Aceptado: 2019.06.13 Ana Cardoso de Matos Universidade de Évora [email protected] Profesora Associada com agregação do Departamento de História da Universidade de Évora, vice-diretora do Instituto de Investigação e For- mação Avançada e investigadora do CIDEHUS-Centro interdisciplinar de História, Culturas e Sociedades. Sheila Palomares Alarcón Universidade de Évora [email protected] Dra. Arquiteta. HERITAS–FCT–PhD– Estudos de Património. Investiga- dora–Miembro integrado de CIDE- HUS-Universidad de Évora. Premio de investigación “Cronista Alfredo Cazabán 2018”. Armando Quintas Universidade de Évora [email protected] Doutorando em História na Univer- sidade de Évora, mestre em Gestão do Património Industrial-programa Erasmus Mundus TPTI (tripla titulação: Universidade de Paris I, Universidade de Évora e Universidade de Pádua), licenciado em História Património Cultural pela Universidade de Évora. Acknowledgement This work is funded by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project CIDEHUS-UID/HIS/00057/2019 and HERITAS [PhD]-Heritage Studies [Ref. PD/00297/2013]. Sheila Palomares Alar- cón. Ref. PD/BD/135142/2017.Armando Quintas. Ref. PD/BD/135143/2017. 96 The Leões flour and pasta factory, which was one of the most important factories of the Alentejo, is a typical example of the European milling fac- tories which emerged in 19th-century Europe. It was one of the 31 modern factories built in the districts of Beja, Évora and Portalegre between the late 19th century and the 1930s. It was established in 1916 in Évora. In 1993, the factory’s lack of competitiveness led to its closure and, after a few years of neglect, in 1998, the University of Évora, following the example of other universities, acquired the building so it would accommodate the Arts and Architecture School. The search of the origins of the factory was one of the main objectives of the researchers who were working about this field. However, it was not available the original process of the industry which would help to exami- ne this study case completely, still now. In this paper we intend to analyse firstly, the origins of the Leões factory and its technical and architectural characteristics, and secondly, the renovation of the building as the Arts and Architecture School of the University of Évora. Key words: Leões flour and pasta factory; Évora (Portugal); industrial herita- ge; adaptive reuse. Resumen La fábrica de harina y pasta Leões, que fue una de las empresas más im- portantes del Alentejo, es un ejemplo típico de las fábricas de molienda europeas que surgieron en la Europa del siglo XIX. Fue una de las 31 fábri- cas modernas construidas en los distritos de Beja, Évora y Portalegre entre finales del siglo XIX y la década de 1930. Fue construida en 1916 en Évora. En 1993, la falta de competitividad de la fábrica llevó a su cierre y, después de algunos años de abandono, en 1998, la Universidad de Évora, siguiendo el ejemplo de otras universidades, adquirió el edificio para que pudiera al- bergar la Escuela de Arte y Arquitectura. La búsqueda de los orígenes de la fábrica ha sido uno de los principales objetivos de los investigadores que trabajaban en este campo. Sin embar- go, todavía no estaba disponible el material que ayudase a examinar este caso de estudio por completo. En este artículo pretendemos analizar en primer lugar, los orígenes de la fábrica de Leões y sus características téc- nicas y arquitectónicas, y en segundo lugar, la renovación del edificio como la Escuela de Artes y Arquitectura de la Universidad de Évora. Palabras clave: Leões flour and pasta factory; Évora (Portugal); Patrimonio Industrial; Rehabilitación. ANA CARDOSO DE MATOS | SHEILA PALOMARES ALARCÓN | ARMANDO QUINTAS. The origins of the “Leões” flour and pasta factory [...] pp. 96-106 The Leões factory: New research findings about its origin 1 There have been published a rage number of articles 2 or book chapter about the Leões factory since it was bought by the University of Évora in 1998. The flour mill, which was one of the most important factories of the Alentejo, entailed, on the one hand, a significant transformation of the landscape and, on the other hand, the emergence of flour mill plants which introduced the Austro-Hungarian system. Leões was more than an industrial complex. It had a commanding presen- ce in the skyline of the city. It built a new neighbourhood around it outsi- de the city wall where lived the people who worked there. It was such a strong symbol for the inhabitants of the city that nowadays it is still called Leões when you want to talk about the arts and Architecture School of the University of Évora. The search of the origins of the factory was one of the main objectives of the researchers who were working about this field. However, there were just a few bibliography, old photos (really important to know the appea- rance inside and outside the building), historical publications… but there was not the original process of the industry which would help to analyse this file, still now. The Leões flour and pasta factory was established in 1916 in Évora by So- ciedade Alentejana de Moagens, a capitalist enterprise founded by several agriculture entrepreneurs from the city with the purpose of diversifying their businesses by taking advantage of the cereal regime 3 . It integrated the most modern industrial park that existed in the region at the time 4 and it was installed closed to the wall of the city 5 and to the railway line 6 . In 1920, Eugénio Alvarez took the control of the factory. He promoted the capital of Leões to 800 contos (800.000$00 escudos) and betting on the modernization with recourse to technology from countries such as Switzerland 7 . Although we have the original process of the industry, it has no infor- mation about the design of original factory. The original documentation 8 reports the characteristics of the factory since 1923: on May 17 th an appli- cation authorization was entered to the services of the 4th Industrial Dis- trict. It was requested the license to build a bakery 9 and a flour division in the Leões factory. The designers of the project were Durán, Garcia & Cª Engenheiros, from Lisbon, was a specialised business in the study and execution of power stations, hydraulic plants, flour and past factories; mechanical bakeries, chocolatefactories, sweet shops and biscuits factories, etc. 10 As we can see in the figure 1, it was not just a building, it was planned as an industrial complex compounded by: flour mill, silos, warehouse, oil engine house, house repair, pasta factory, bakery, garage, a water tank to cool the engine and the bakery workers houses which were situated in the other side of the factory buildings. The primitive building was the flour mill and the warehouse. 1 Before finding the original process of the industry, this article impro- ves and disseminates our last re- search findings. A previous version in Spanish was: Matos, Quintas, Palomares, “La rehabilitación de la fábrica de massas Leões...”, 2017. 2 Guimarães, Elites e Indústria no Alentejo (1890-1960), 2006; Portugal, O libro dos Leões, 2008; Palomares, “Pan y aceite...”, 2016; Matos, Quintas, Palomares, “La re- habilitación de la fábrica de massas Leões...”, 2017. 3 At the end of the 19th century, Portugal, as well as other Euro- pean countries, implemented a protectionist policy aimed at both raising custom duties and protec- ting grain crops, especially wheat. This grain protectionism began to emerge in the 1880s, marking a transition from a free market to a more closed one. The measures implemented over the preceding ten years, focusing especially on the role played by the flour mill plants, establishing that, before purchasing the more precious and lucrative exotic wheat, they first had to buy domestic wheat in nearly double the proportion. This measure ensured the flow of Portu- guese wheat, reducing imports, and thus balancing the trade balance. All these developments allowed Alentejo to become one of the top cereal-producing regions thanks to its extensive territory, which was characterised by a predominance of large estates and whose poten- tial was still mostly untapped. Reis “A ‘Lei da Fome’: as origens do pro- teccionismo cerealífero..”, 745-793. 4 In the region, this incorporation of a public limited company by major landholders was not an exception, but rather quite usual, as there was a number of other companies that were incorporated at the time, such as Companhia Elvense de Moagens a Vapor, founded in Elvas, in 1889, Sociedade de Moinhos de Santa Iria, founded in Beja, in 1890, or Sociedade Fabril Alentejana Limitada, founded in Vila Viçosa, in 1921, to mention just a few. Guimarães, Elites e Indústria no Alentejo (1890-1960), 99,100, 178; Quintas, “A fábrica e a sociedade Sofal de...”, 221-245. ANA CARDOSO DE MATOS | SHEILA PALOMARES ALARCÓN | ARMANDO QUINTAS. The origins of the “Leões” flour and pasta factory [...] pp. 94-106 97