Unnamed Steel Mill – Italy

With this site, we move away from the US Rust Belt to Italy – and more specifically, this large, empty room photographed by Alessandro Sicco. Looking at the deserted chamber, there’s little evidence of the industry that once flourished there. As in the US, the mid 20th century was a good time for steel production in Italy. By the 1970s, the Italian steel industry was behind only West Germany in terms of output. But again, like America’s once-dominant Rust Belt, the Italian industry was affected by cheaper overseas production, and by the 1980s, it was a shadow of its former glory.

Like many Western countries, Italy was affected by the steel crisis that began in the 1970s and reached this boot-shaped corner of Europe in the 1980s. In 1974, 96,000 people were employed in the Italian steel industry. By 1990, this number had dropped to 56,000; in 2000, it was as low as 39,000. This decline was also down to the fact that production methods had improved, requiring fewer people to do the same amount of work.