Alessandro Goppion
CEO Goppion S.p.a.
My working life has been a journey of learning.
While studying the history of ideas and the history of political thought with Carlo Pincin at the Università di Milano, I also apprenticed in the family company alongside master mechanic Piero Pagani. My first big business challenge involved designing glass pieces for a furniture collection in metal and crystal by Afra and Tobia Scarpa.
After that it took me seven years to truly learn the sense of the so-called “Venetian School” of architecture and understand that my interests lay in the world of exhibition design for museums. This is where my intellectual pursuits and manual skills, which are two parallel interests that have always been a part of me, truly came together.
Long-term collaborations with the Istituto Centrale del Restauro and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure taught me the techniques of preventative conservation. The work of Gael de Guichen at ICCROM has served as a constant guide for me in designing and building technical display cases for museums. Meeting Giovanni Pinna made me truly aware of the museum challenges that display cases must respond to.
Since taking over for my father as CEO of Goppion S.p.A., I have made the company more international, allowing it to become a benchmark for the museum industry around the world. There were two projects that truly changed Goppion. There were the display cases we created for the Tower of London where the great project manager Ken Percy taught me the art of management. Then during the British Galleries at the V&A project, this great institution welcomed us, valued us and helped in our transformation from Italian company to international company.
I then worked with the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa when Salvatore Settis was director. We contributed to the education of students specializing in Cultural Heritage with Benedetto Benedetti by presenting the results of our projects.
Today I can proudly define Goppion as an organization of know-how where the young and not-so-young work side by side to create important designs that protect and promote the cultural heritage of nations.
In 2015 I was awarded the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.
