THE CERAMICHE SOLIMENE FACTORY 

This structure, built in 1954, is the only Italian work of the architect from Turin, Paolo Soleri, one of the major collaborators of the studio of the famous American Frank Lloyd Wright. Soleri went to Vietri to try his hand at ceramics and showed his friend and client, Vincenzo Solimene, in a clay model, an ambitious project: the building Ceramiche Solimene. This project over time has become one of the most significant buildings of the century, often defined as an unicum, difficult to classify in a well-defined architectural scheme. 

The architect has always shown profound respect for the environment, trying to develop an “ecological and sustainable” architecture: by designing this work he excelled in his goal. He manages to create such an imaginative place in a very narrow space - compressed between a rocky wall and a highway - to protect the surrounding terraced crops and the choir of centuries-old pines behind it. He tries to gain surface by developing the building almost completely vertically, so much so that today it seems to be part of the local landscape dimension. It is a state-of-the-art factory whose absence is difficult to imagine. 

The Ceramiche Solimene is located at the entrance of the village, in via Madonna degli Angeli and, already at first glance, you can realize the originality in its surprising aesthetic. The façade recalls the best works of Gaudì: it is characterized by a series of overturned conical towers, connected by large triangular windows, which create inside the building surprising plays of light that descend from above. Furthermore, on one side of the external wall and along the pavement below, various applications are depicting different subjects and motifs which, alternating with small portholes, attract the attention of visitors for their originality. Throughout the building there are over sixteen thousand rough colored vases, red and teal, which form a truly wonderful polychromatic texture: a simple but efficient application, able to explain already from the outside what this building is used for. This texture is probably the real advertising poster of the factory Ceramiche Solimene.

Once inside, surrounded by majolica motifs and many ceramic works, you will feel like you are in the world of wonders.

The building consists of four floors articulated around a helical ramp, which rests on pillars that resemble petrified trees, each with its particular function for the phases of the ceramic production cycle. While on the upper floors the proud potters untangle their production among presses, clay, brushes, glazes, and cooking ovens, on the first floor the finished products are exhibited and sold. It is easy to recognize the passion and skill of their authors: ceramics in bright colors, with designs and shapes that are always original, beautiful, and so particular that they are known, appreciated and exported all over the world. Impossible not to buy at least one piece!

On the other hand, in the central part of the building, there is a hollow that hosts a vertical kiln, with a freight elevator that connects the factory to the upper floor, where the Study Center for the Vietrese Arts is located. It is a space dedicated to the training of new potters.

The ceramists are always studying new ways to be able to satisfy all customer requests: the decorations, shapes, colors, and lead-free glazes are very versatile. The production evolves, reinventing the tradition in an always original, unique, and attractive way… but also practical and long-lasting! All the ceramics are worked and painted entirely by hand, with figures and motifs that reflect the Mediterranean culture and lifestyle. In this factory are used both ancient techniques, such as the lathe, and also the latest technologies to ensure the resistance and sustainability of the products over time, even after washing the utensils in modern dishwashers. 

I suggest you take your time in watching the artists painting the dishes, it is so fascinating that you will not want to miss it. 

I am sure that at the end of this beautiful visit your eyes will burst in emotion thanks to the beauty that is produced in this magical place.

Photocredits ceramics: www.ceramicasolimene.it