Fornace Curti
Six hundred years in Milan making the architectural friezes for the “Ca’ Granda” in the time of the Sforza family. Since 1400.
There is a raw material not belonging to the past: it lives with us, changes with us, and moves through the centuries, adapting to fashions, contexts, and visions. It is clay – capable of turning humility into beauty, of moving from the simplest homes to the most prestigious residences without ever losing its authenticity. A living material that has always accompanied the history of Made in Italy, renewing itself without ever betraying its essence. Terracotta is not an old-fashioned trinket: it is a material that continually reinvents itself, able to find a natural place even in the most modern and contemporary settings. It is a curtain rising on something that mass retail can never replicate. And defending this heritage has not been easy: resisting globalization, large-scale online distribution, plastic, ever-faster rhythms, and the supposed convenience of disposability. All of this has required determination and a clear choice – to continue believing in uniqueness, in the handmade piece, in a quality that cannot be mass-produced. Jars, amphorae, vases, and furnishings that carry within them the artisan’s hand and the time of creation. And it is precisely that time – slow and knowledgeable – that makes each piece unique. From quill pen to social media, Fornace Curti continues its challenge to time, renewing itself just like the earth it has shaped for over 600 years. After Alberto, it is now Daria who is carrying this legacy forward, guiding it toward a future that does not betray tradition, but reworks and regenerates it. And that is when you realize that time, when it passes through the right hands, can still surprise us: all it takes is to draw close to that living earth and listen to stories that have never stopped speaking.