G

iorgio Conti (1928-2002) was an entrepreneur who, through his passion, dedication and talent for imagining the future, was able to create a group which is now the world leader in the sector of quarrying and selling of stone blocks. The origins date back to the early 60s, when Giorgio Conti founded the R.E.D. Graniti, a company which presented some varieties of granite that were not well-known then, but which would have become the reference points for architecture all across the world in few years.

It was in the 70s, when Giorgio Conti decided to renovate his company and have it grow by abandoning the marginal role of representative company, to become a true and authentic trader, which means buying blocks to resell them in its commercial channels. Consistently to the new orientation, R.E.D. GRANITI was the first Italian company to open an office in India in 1976, whereas the Pedreiras do Brasil was founded in Brazil in 1982.
When also the trader activity started to become limiting for the potentiality of the company and its expansion, the necessary and inevitable step was to create its own procurement sources, by acquiring quarries directly; something not so insignificant, as the quarrying sites of granite were and still are often by arduous villages and geological areas, in which quarrying and transportation of blocks were very difficult, especially back in those years.
Though he was aware of the risks of such ambitious project, Giorgio Conti believed in the chances of success firmly. And he also knew that to control the raw material directly, a well-structured and international organization would be needed, and so he created it.
Today, the R.E.D. Graniti group is a multinational firm which was born from the vision and the managing skills of its founder. It is now the leader in the sector of quarrying and selling of stone blocks and it controls over 30 quarries located in the key areas for the world stone production: Brazil, South Africa, Finland, Zimbabwe, U.S.A., Namibia and Madagascar.
Giorgio Conti died in 2002 and the following year, wanted by his daughters Franca and Daniela, the Fondazione Giorgio Conti was established. The Foundation was born to continue the ideas of Giorgio Conti, a man who, besides being a passionate and determined businessman, always showed a great sensitivity for social solidarity and the preservation and safeguard of human and artistic values, which will be continued through the initiatives of the Foundation.

Between 13th June and 4th October 2015, Palazzo Cucchiari hosted its first exhibition La Scuola Carrarese all’Ermitage. Canova e I Maestri del Marmo (The Carrara School at the Hermitage Museum. Canova and the Masters of Marble in collaboration with: The State Hermitage Museum and the Municipality of Carrara; with the patronage of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Regione Toscana and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism).