aka the Archilovers headquarters
by Silvia Pagliuca,
Corriere della Sera – I Blog
They call them “Bari’s Google men.” Like Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the inventors of the web giant Google, Enzo Maiorano, Ferdinando Napoli, Marilde Longo and Maurizio Alfieri also started from a garage.
Today, their 1,500 square metre open plan offices embrace the sea. Saltiness is perhaps the only thing that the heel of Italy can be said to have in common with California. But the four Italian construction engineers are not afraid of comparisons.
Also because they win it hands down. When they invented Edilportale, the first site of technical information for the Italian building industry and the first of their experiments on the web, Google did not even exist. Beaten to the punch, you might say.
It was 1999, and the young graduates from Bari decided to do something on their own, to create something that didn’t yet exist. Someone invested in them and their bet started to pay off. In a short time, Edilportale imposed itself as a benchmark for designers, construction companies and manufacturers.
“It was created as an old-fashioned website focused on information and commerce. Today, thanks to its continual updating and to the completeness of the information provided, it is considered a bit like the Reuters of the building trade” – says Enzo Maiorano, one of the four startuppers. In three years it became the industry leader, with 24 million readers a year and 800 thousand subscribers.
New game, fresh luck. The adrenaline of this first experience led to the creation of Archiportale, a community that focuses on the glossy world of designers and architects, thus culture, art and comparison in a broad sense.
It was 2005, just three years before the great crisis which, like in the most classic of stories, also became an opportunity here.
“The construction sector was at its tether, 2008 was a terrible year for Italian companies. They asked us for a hand, opening a door to the world and so we did.”
Hence Archiproducts, the permanent virtual exhibition of design products, the site where Italian and foreign artists come together, showcase their catalogues, make themselves known and make the world their core business.
“We were satisfied, but the most enjoyable part was yet to come.”
Archilovers, here’s the gem: the social network somewhere between Facebook and Linkedin thought up, once again, for architects and designers. A free and multilingual platform where you can publish projects, photos, videos and renderings.
A place to share and comment, to follow and be followed, where it is not the designers but their work which is tagged, thus creating a huge database of materials and designs.
The idea took off: the followers increased by up to 1,500 per day, the site was translated into eleven languages and an app has also recently been created. “More than 100,000 catalogues have been published, there are 800,000 registered users, 75,000 projects posted and the most emotional thing is that each one of them has committed themselves to it! For us it is like becoming a kid again” – continues Maiorano.
Indeed, the four Bari startuppers, have always retained a little youthful enthusiasm. Confirmation of this: meetings sitting on the ground, scooters as a means of locomotion to move from one part of the office to the other, the table tennis tables. “Listen, we really do play, every day! And in the evening we also watch films together, the original version of course.”
Today 70 people share this larger than life universe, almost all are under 30 and 80% are women. “We are constantly on the look out for personnel because our product is going well, we are a profitable company and we intend to continue to invest by opening offices in London and San Francisco.”
We currently are looking for native speakers of English or German, who have a knowledge of architecture, web and design and who are willing to live in Bari, in between a game of football and a dance course in lunch breaks.
“But above all, we want people who can think extraordinary and who can make this thought an obsession. Because only like this can we continue to keep a step ahead of the rest.”
(Archilovers, la Silicon Valley (barese) che non ti aspetti)
