L’ultimo Altoforno di Vizcaya. Elementi di patrimonio industriale attivatori del paesaggio culturale urbanistico intorno alla Ría Nervión

The installation of an urban lift and access staircase to the Vizcaya Blast Furnace in Sestao revives traces of industrial heritage along the Nervión River. After decades of rapid change and loss, the project is part of a regeneration plan for the working-class neighbourhood: it redevelops residential buildings and converts the blast furnace - now a Cultural Asset, classified as a Monument - into a museum, as a symbol of the area's steel-making identity. By moving the connection system away from the monument, the project enhances its figurative power and activates a dialogue with the nearby Puente Colgante, the world's first transporter bridge and a UNESCO site. The new walkway section generates new viewpoints around the blast furnace and triggers “virtual” connections with the urban landscape shaped by the river, its backbone. Small additions, consistent with the location and materials, dialogue with the major projects of recent decades and restore civic and cultural value to Bilbao's industrial heritage, with a focus on safety, accessibility and maintenance: a measured gesture that reinterprets memory without folklore and restores it to the city's everyday urban life.