SMOKE FACTORY

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The Smoke Factory is one of the most interesting revived authentic architectural spaces, located in the late-19th-century Scythe Factory building in Naujoji Vilnia.

Many chimneys used to be smoking here, and 3 million Swedish steel scythes, known as litovka, were produced per year. In the early 20th century, it became the world’s largest and most technologically advanced scythe factory. The preserved authentic decoration of the building’s brick walls testifies to the unusually ornate architectural expression of a building designed for manufacturing. The red brick water tower next to it is one of the first buildings in Vilnius to use a reinforced concrete construction – a major technological innovation of the time.

During the Soviet era, it was the site of the “Construction Finishing Machinery Factory”. After the restoration of independence, buildings that had changed ownership and use began to disappear.

In 2020, after the reconstruction of the former Scythe Factory production workshop, the 1,200 m2, 12 metre high space was transformed into the Smoke Factory, a modern craft beer brewery and a cultural space that hosts exhibitions, concerts and festivals. The Smoke Factory neighbourhood is home to a loft district, artists’ galleries and studios, and the walls are covered by street art.

The Smoke Factory is the cultural centre of attraction of Naujoji Vilnia, where different layers of time are intertwined in the actualisation of authentic industrial heritage.