In Albisola, ceramics are not merely a craft: they are living memory, an interweaving of hands, material, and vision. It is a heritage that has crossed centuries and generations, constantly renewing itself thanks to those who have the courage to experiment without betraying their roots.
Within this context emerges the encounter between Marco Ciarlo and Ceramiche Pierluca: a dialogue that brings together the design approach of a contemporary creator with the sensitivity of a workshop that, for over thirty years, has safeguarded and reinvented the language of matter.
Marco Ciarlo’s work is defined by a constant search for balance between function and poetry. His design stems from a careful observation of materials and the desire to endow them with new expressive possibilities. At Ceramiche Pierluca he found the ideal setting to transform ideas into objects: a place where technical precision meets the freedom of invention. The forms conceived by Ciarlo—essential and contemporary—come to life through the hands of the workshop’s artisans, who shape clay with age-old mastery. It is within this tension between project and manual gesture that ceramics become a shared narrative: not just objects, but fragments of a story that speaks of place, culture, and identity.
On the other side of the dialogue stands Ceramiche Pierluca, founded in 1989 by Dario Bevilacqua, and today one of the most vibrant studios in Albisola. Alongside the classic models of the Ligurian tradition, the workshop has consistently welcomed designers and artists, fostering cross-pollinations that have given rise to original and daring collections. The collaboration with Marco Ciarlo continues this history of openness, adding a new chapter to a journey that looks to the future without losing sight of the memory of the past.
Documenting this creative exchange are the images of Marcello Campora, a photographer trained as an architect, who for more than a decade has discreetly and profoundly narrated the work of artisans and artists within their workshops. His photographs capture not only the aesthetics of finished pieces, but above all the intensity of the process—the silence of the kiln as it opens, the energy of repeated gestures.
CREDITS
Design: Marco Ciarlo
Production: Ceramiche Pierluca
Photography: Marcello Campora
Location: Albisola (SV), Italy
