Being a specialised sector of technical-scientific and technological skills, industrial building only started playing a more conspicuous role on the architectural stage at the beginning of the twentieth century. This development took place almost simultaneously in Europe and in the United States when, to the long-standing and dominating traditions and roles of millwrights and building engineers was added the responsibility of the factory designers. Designing the physical and symbolic space for the scientific organisation of work, the Taylor-Ford model of the daylight factory represented an icon of modernity for both architects and historians. Through the architecture of the assembly line, architects, engineers and industry chiefs were able to carry out innovations in mechanised production processes, in technology relating to building materials and factory automation, in prefabrication and in the strategies of visual communication. The Nizhny Tagil Charter for Industrial Heritage does not discuss in detail the problem of twentieth-century industrial architecture.