Alessandro Rametta

La Fucina Di Efesto

Metal sculptor

©Annalisa Cimmino

Tomas Bertelsen ©Michelangelo Foundation

Playing with fire

Alessandro loves to experiment with various types of metal
In 2018 he received the Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere (MAM) prize
La Fucina di Efesto is a tribute to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire

Alessandro Rametta chose to call his workshop a forge (fucina in Italian) because it describes the environment that he wanted to recreate when he decided to dedicate his life to this profession. Then he added the name of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and forger of weapons and tools. Alessandro has spent many days and nights inside his Fucina di Efesto, thinking, creating and melting metals, giving life to sculptures and design objects that have already earned him the title of master in the art of forging. In receiving the Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere prize, given every two years to the best artisans in Italy, Alessandro feels he has been “rewarded for all the hard work”.

Interview

©Vittorio Canisi

©Tomas Bertelsen Michelangelo foundation

At what age did you approach the craft of forging?: In my youth I used to go to high school in the evening while during the day I was working in a factory that made metal components for lifts. At the age of 16 I was awestruck by that universe, but as much as I try, I still can’t understand why.
When did you set up your own workshop?: In 1997, together with a good friend of mine. The first years were extremely rewarding: we were always busy and very successful. We furnished a number of nightclubs in Milan and created some objects for the windows of Gianfranco Ferré’s flagship store. Then the economic crisis struck.
How did you overcome those hard times?: By approaching the world of design, which is very important for Milan. I trained a number of students from the Polytechnic and one of them, Andrea Capriotti, has since become my right hand man. Thanks to our vision and our skills, we can develop a project from A to Z.
In what way can you bring innovation to an ancient craft?: By experimenting. We have an artistic approach that pushes us to explore unprecedented forms of expression. We use a cutting-edge technique that enables us to weld together metals that melt at different temperatures, such as bronze, which melts at 800 degrees, and steel, which melts at 1,400 degrees.

Alessandro Rametta is a master artisan: he began his career in 1997 and he started teaching in 2005