How can artistic crafts and modern cities dialogue and grow together? What strategies can support craft professions and create new spaces for authentic sociality? These are the main questions that guided the recent visits of the Homo Faber Economy project to Florence and Milan.
Through meetings and exchanges between entrepreneurs from different territorial contexts, the project aims to build a dialogue between culture and business, enhancing the artistic, value and cultural aspects that make craft realities unique.
Homo Faber Economy led some of the participants in the journey to discover realities of excellence. In Milan, the entrepreneurs visited:
- Paravicini Laboratory: where Costanza and her daughters hand-decorate plates and tableware of extraordinary refinement, a perfect example of urban manufacturing that blends harmoniously into the city context.
- LOM Dopolavoro: an urban regeneration project with a restaurant that combines a seasonal, plant-based menu with a short supply chain and innovative workshops, succeeding in attracting new communities and promoting consistency and sustainability.
- Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte: a reality that has been active for almost 30 years in supporting the craft professions through training, exhibitions and unpublished editorial content.
In Florence, thanks to the guidance of Elisa Guidi of Artex - Centro per l'Artigianato Artistico e Tradizionale della Toscana, participants instead explored strategies to enhance and promote artistic crafts.
Reflection focused on the importance of broadening the perception of the sector to a wider audience, including policymakers. Chiara Mercatanti of Artex highlighted the value of being part of a network capable of strengthening the visibility of artisans, fostering collaborations and contaminations that generate innovation.
This approach greatly inspired the visit participants, who created a map of connections for the Venetian craft ecosystem, emphasizing the role of Venice as a focal point for the success of an established network.
Homo Faber Economy is a journey of exploration and learning that has already passed through Veneto, visited cities such as Milan and Florence, through visits to promotional organizations, manufacturing companies and Made in Italy craft realities. Each stop has been an opportunity to stimulate exchanges and reflections among artisans, professionals and researchers, helping to develop innovative solutions to address the challenges of the sector.
The main objective is to develop entrepreneurial skills and strengthen the network of artisans, accompanying them in the creation of new projects, with a special focus on Venice. With the support of entities such as Artex and Fondazione Cologni and thanks to the scientific mediation of the Upskill 4.0 team, the project aims to give greater visibility and recognition to the work of artisans, building a future where culture, business and urban sociality are closely connected.
Homo Faber Economy invites us to rethink the role of craftsmanship, not only as a guardian of traditions, but as an engine of innovation, sociality and sustainability. Looking to examples of excellence already present in Italy, the project emphasizes how a strong network and a shared vision can transform craftsmanship into the beating heart of a new urban economy, capable of combining beauty, culture and enterprise.
