Every morning, Romain Gazzola takes the same route to join the family masonry business in Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val-d’Oise) from his home on Place de Clichy, in Paris, checking, more out of habit than out of necessity, his Waze navigation software before hitting the road behind the wheel of his gray Citroën Picasso. But at the start of 2019, while the “yellow vest” crisis is in full swing, the application confuses him and recommends that he follow the banks of the Seine. Stuck in traffic, he lets his eyes wander when his attention is drawn to a surprising group of dilapidated brick-red buildings on the side of the road.
He then decided to park in a double line in this unused area of the Pleyel-Confluence district, in Saint-Denis, and to set off to explore the site. “After five seconds, I knew that I wanted to create a place here that would bring together the companies of our group, a model modeled on the old suburbs or the Italian bottega of Antiquity and the Renaissance: these places brought together different construction and decorative arts trades, but also mathematicians, philosophers and artists like Raphaël or Leonardo da Vinci”, explains the young entrepreneur of Italian origin.
His great-great-grandfather Eugenio Gazzola, an immigrant mason born in Piacenza (Emilia-Romagna), between Milan and Parma, settled in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.e century. Each generation expands the company, already specialized in high-end masonry and exceptional projects, such as the rocking of Vincennes wood.
“Our family has always thought of masonry as an art profession even though prejudices about this activity are enormous, particularly since the industrialization of the building sector in the 1950s, with the arrival of large companies like Bouygues and the disqualification of the profession, associated with immigration on immense dehumanized construction sites”, underlines Romain Gazzola, who wants to highlight the nobility of this discipline since he took over the family business with his cousin in 2010.
Optimal organization
Seduced by his vision of the profession and his ability to restructure Gazzola, other building trades specializing in high-end projects called on him, before he acquired additional know-how over time. Around ten companies now make up the young group: Atelier Tourtoulou (decorative painting), Ateliers Bataillard & Maison Meilleur (art ironworkers), Parquets Briatte (the last to know how to restore the parquet floors of Versailles), Marbrerie de Vitry or again Bernard Pictet, specialist in glass applied to decoration and architecture. “I was convinced that the idea of setting up here together would allow emulation between these factories, to create bridges,” rejoices Romain Gazzola.
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