Forging Beauty
Throughout the centuries of its history as a crafter, man has bent to his needs, both physical and artistic, all the materials he's encountered, when he didn't (think of plastic) directly invent better suited ones. This incredible variety notwithstanding, some of those materials continue giving a sense of elegance and beauty which makes them, anyway, the preferred choice; and this most often happens just with those materials which have been worked with for centuries, and perhaps for this reason are so well known and familiar to us that they have definitely become part of our aesthetic tastes. And among these, a place of preeminence, if not the throne, is surely occupied by Iron.
Perhaps one of the reasons lies indeed, as we mentioned, in the distant roots held by our familiarity with iron, which go back to more than five thousand years ago: a long time to become good, steady friends. But after all, iron had, and has, all the qualities that make it an ideal work material for a craftsman: on one hand the strength and resistance that made it a devastating weapon and an impenetrable defense, on the other hand the capacity of bending and twisting in the most graceful and daring shake, which makes it extraordinary for creating objects both solid and aesthetically fascinating. And as we were saying, for this reason, even as we come closer to our modern age a ride through history shows how we find this friend over and over again, period after period: it appears in England's medieval cathedrals, decorating hinges and portals; in the fifteenth century, in Spain, it elevates in beautiful decorated gates; in seventeenth-century France, it twists to embellish railings and balconies, and the story goes on and on bringing it even to the attention, and skillful hands, of a genius like Pablo Picasso, when he is called to create his famous sculpture for Chicago, in 1967.
A very respectable tradition, then. And perhaps for this very reason, one not easy to take on, especially nowadays, when so many other possible materials promise malleability of shape and resistance to stress. But yet, there are those who feel and see in iron qualities which cannot be found elsewhere, and take up this extraordinary tradition to bring it forward: we asked the reasons, and the consequences, of such a choice to one of these brave Companies, Fusaro Mario. The modern workshops run by those who espouse this material today, places certainly different from the dark, oppressive forges iron took the first steps of its great adventure, produce structures which embody the very malleability of this metal, in their adapting both to the needs of robustness and beauty required by industrial building and home building as well. And so the workers' expert hands, aided of course by specific modern tools and machines, can one day produce safety stairs joining the lightness and modularity of metal to that all-proof robustness their nature requires, and the following day finish polishing the gate and fence which will encircle the gardens of an elegant manor, twisted and shaped to resemble the limbs and flowers of the same plants they will protect. One material, and a world of applications: even after five thousand years with us, iron still remains young and healthy.
About the Author:
For ten years, Fusaro cancelli in ferro has concentrated his activity on iron gates and stairs.
