Industrial Archaeology Part 1

The unique circular factory designed by guitarmaker & artist Antonio 'Wandre' Pioli as it looks today in Cavriago, Italy. ( photo courtesy of Gabriele Longoni )

I love the radiating beams and cast-concrete details.

Does anyone out there have pictures of it in it's prime ?

... and here's Jimmy's Nascar Bar & Grill at 500 South Raymond Ave, Fullerton California.

... once home to Fender Electric Instruments during their most exciting era.

I'm not sure where I'm heading with this post ... it's nostalgia I suppose, combined with my fascination for that point where art meets industry and for a short time they overlap to make some kind of history.

I'd add a picture of Harvester World Headquarters but the Hills Hoist is blocking the view from the chook-shed.

I love the big, traditional American factories like the old Guild works in New Jersey or the Nazareth home of Martin but there's something appealing about those wooden benches ( maple ? alder ? pine ? ) and ashtrays out the side of the Leo's prosaic sheds baking in the California sun or Wandre's futurist vision of a circle of workers creating unique instruments in a unique building.

Cheers, AP