The Tsalapatas Museum of Brick and Tile Manufacture is a ‘museum of itself’. The main axis of the museological and museographical approach is the production line and the highlighting of the mechanical equipment of the factory.
Efforts have been made to ensure that the architectural planning differentiates the new buildings from the old in the complex, thus stressing the new use of the premises as a museum.
The museographical invention is the contrasting of the relatively dark industrial premises with the self-lit areas and the illuminated glass panels bearing the photographs, plans and explanatory texts. The new constructions have been smoothly integrated into the old factory space, as they are also marked by an industrial aesthetic.
In the case of the Hoffman kiln, an effort has been made to make its workings understood by means of the visitor’s ‘penetration’ into it.
The terrace roof of the kiln has been completely cleared of earth, the mechanisms have been repaired, and the space has been carefully refilled with clay whose surface has been assimilated to the carbon dust trodden down by industrial use.
The visitor emerges from the kiln premises and approaches in the forecourt the baked products ready for transportation, with the clay reservoirs, and in order to see the old steam engine used for the moving of earth, which is protected by a glass shelter.