France: Arc-et-Senans – Royal Saltworks

Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans is a grand industrial complex for salt production, built in the late 1770s under Louis XV. The salt brine was pumped here from underground sources via a 21 km wooden pipeline connected to the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains. The brine was then evaporated using firewood from the nearby forest. As pretty much everything in France, the salt factory design was elevated to the aesthetic level of palaces or religious buildings – grand and over-the-top. The layout forms a precise semicircular arc (hence “Arc-et-Senans”), enclosing an open public square. This geometric plan housed 11 neoclassical buildings, including the industrial complexes like boiler house (for evaporating brine), salt warehouses, cooperage (barrel-making), stables, blacksmith shop, and so on.