Heritage

Without any initial capital but armed only with his willpower and his hopes, Maurizio Leo Placuzzi founds SICIS. The name itself is a promise: from the Latin Sic Immensos Clarosque Inceptos Somniavi, it alludes to the dream of seeing great work that everyone will recognize. The headquarter office was first an old abandoned house in Cannuzzo di Cervia, far away from the glittering world that he aimed to reach with his products.

With resourcefulness and the desire to establish the company and make it known beyond the narrow local borders, SICIS acquires its first important order for the Saudi Sheikh Al Gosaibi. The marble floors, made with the traditional techniques of Roman mosaic, are masterpieces of Italian craftsmanship of the highest quality.

Demand starts increasing, and production needs larger spaces. The headquarters thus move to Ravenna.
The first fairs also date back to 1989: Cersaie in Bologna and Coverings in the USA. The mosaics by SICIS enjoy great international success, so much so that one of the most famous hotels, the Ritz in Paris, chooses them for its beautiful indoor spa.
The expansion knows no limits, thanks also to “Doppio Indiretto” (Double Indirect), the new method of laying the artistic mosaic that Maurizio Placuzzi patents that same year.

Indeed, always looking for new stimuli and ideas, Maurizio Placuzzi, lover and collector of neoclassical artifacts in micromosaic, decides to create a team in the company to study this refined technique.At the same time he invents the mesh preassembled marble mosaic and begins the expansion towards the East: he exhibits his pieces at the Ibex show in Hong Kong and enters into commercial agreements with important Japanese companies to export to the Japanese market.

The operational headquarters move again, this time in the industrial area of Ravenna, in via Monti, not far from a second operational office/warehouse.
In order to give the right prominence to the collections and present them to customers as works of art, the catalogs are printed as real books, elegantly bound and full of photographs.

It is a year of change from both a technical and an innovative point of view. SICIS creates its first Murano glass mosaic collection, launching a series of lines that will definitively mark the company’s consecration as a leader in the production and creation of mosaic surfaces.
The in-house technical team directed by Franco Sbrighi, a close friend of the CEO, invents a machine to cut the tiles and files the patent.

SICIS enters the Guinness World Record thanks to the project created for the Mahmood Saeed Oasis Mall in Jeddah: 42,000 square meters of mosaic decorations make it the largest mosaic in the world.
Another 17,000 square meters of artistic marble mosaic are destined for the Hotel Malabata in Tangier. The collaboration with international designer Roger Thomas begins with the production of mosaic floors and decorations for the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas, which will be inaugurated two years later.

The headquarters move to the current location in via Canala: a small village of 85,000 square meters dedicated to offices, warehouses, exhibition areas, and the furnace for the production of glass mosaic tiles.
The projects commissioned are increasingly prestigious, and SICIS leaves an indelible mark in the United Arab Emirates when the architect Khuan Chew chooses the company’s mosaics for the most luxurious hotel in the world: the Burj Al Arab.
The “Iridium” collection is born, iridescent glass tiles laid on a mesh - an unprecedented innovation in the field.

After having made the art of marble and glass mosaic its own, SICIS switches to a new material: metal. After an intense phase of study and various resistance and conductivity tests, the “Metallismo” collection is born, the first mosaic in the world made of steel and brass. “Metallismo” makes its official debut at the presentation of the BMW Z8, during the Geneva International Motor Show.

SICIS mosaics are created to amaze and be admired. And with this idea, the project to open new showrooms in the most prestigious streets and areas of the capitals of fashion and design is launched. Italy starts with an important space in via Fatebenefratelli in Milan, followed by the United Arab Emirates, in the commercial heart of Dubai.

The city of eclecticism par excellence, Las Vegas, is enriched with new mosaic works. Indeed, mosaics by SICIS grace the new Wynn Casino, designed by Roger Thomas, and the Caesar’s Palace, where the splendid marble mosaic floors made with the Roman technique fit to perfection.

SICIS consolidates its presence in the USA and opens its first showroom in Soho, the beating heart of New York. For the occasion, the company organizes a mega event with the New York City Ballet, creating a series of artistic mosaic panels dedicated to ballet. The inauguration is an obvious success.
The “NeoGlass” collection is born: the glass mosaic softens its edges and embraces softer, round and oval shapes, opening up to new creative interpretations.

The Paris showroom opens in rue Francois 1er, and does one in New Delhi.
SICIS presents an eclectic, unusual collection: Bathtub. The mosaic turns into a flow, and thanks to special craftsmanship it moves from flat surfaces to covering furniture, turning it into design pieces.

SICIS presents its first furniture collection to the world. These are iconic pieces, created in collaboration with internationally-renowned designers and stylists, embellished with refined decorations in minute mosaic. The “Next Art” collection is presented at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, making its debut in what will since become a fixed appointment in the company’s full annual calendar.

After years of studies and research on techniques and bringing eminent mosaic masters expert in the art of micromosaic into the team, SICIS presents the first pieces of high jewellery at BaselWorld. For the occasion, the company collaborates again with Roger Thomas, designer of these first, iconic jewels.
SICIS is 25 years old: its age is celebrated in style in Milan with an event in collaboration with Vogue. The dream is now a reality.
Meanwhile, the first Asian showroom opens in Hong Kong.

Openings in the Far East continue like wildfire. It is the turn of Beijing and Japan, with Nagoya and Osaka.
The first boutique entirely dedicated to Sicis Jewels was inaugurated in Milan, in via della Spiga, in the Quadrilatero della Moda.
SICIS continues to experiment with materials and colors and presents the SICIS Gold collection: artistic mosaic decorations made with tiles that enclose a leaf in gold, platinum, or other precious materials.

“Structura” is born, artistic mosaic panels characterized by the use of tiles in different sizes and thicknesses that create three-dimensionality.
“Doors” and “Door Pulls” enter the SICIS universe: doors covered in artistic mosaic and handles embellished with minute mosaic decorations.
Sicis Jewels launches a line of wristwatches with a micromosaic case and glasses with applications on the frames.
A new office opens in New York with a 6,000 m2 warehouse to store products destined to the American market, offices, and exhibition areas.

A great year in the history of SICIS. The range of covering materials is extended thanks to an exclusive patent: “Vetrite” or foam glass, large sheets of glass and polymers that create extraordinary patterns, suitable to be used in all fields of interior design.
At the Salone del Mobile SICIS presents the new Home Collection, abandoning the more rigorous and austere style of the first collections in favor of a more contemporary one suitable for everyday life.
The London showroom opens in Mayfair.

On the occasion of its 30th birthday, SICIS organizes a truly memorable event: an exhibition in the city that has seen it grow. This is a unique experience for the many international visitors who, through multimedia itineraries, discover the company’s milestones, but above all the decorative art of mosaic and the charm of micromosaic.
SICIS creates its own collection of mosaic-inspired fabrics: “Tessere”.
It features “Diamond”, glass tiles with an original rhomboid shape.

SICIS collects all its glass mosaics in a single large catalog: Colorpedia.
The company participates in the making of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Bali, one of the largest statues in the world.
“Gem Glass” debuts, a new collection of foam glass inspired by natural gems that designers all over the world immediately fall in love with.
The Madrid showroom opens.
Sicis Jewels launches “Universe”, a line of prêt-à-porter jewels, small amulets to wear every day.

SICIS signs an important commercial agreement with the Chinese giant DongPeng Ceramics, creating a partnership for the distribution of mosaics and foam glass throughout China and organizing the opening of one hundred new showrooms within the next five years.
The Casa Bella showroom opens in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Despite the growing global difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, SICIS does not stop. It furnishes an entire apartment inside the tallest residential tower in the world, the Central Park Tower in New York.
It enriches the foam glass “Gem Glass” collection with 26 new patterns.
To adapt to the modern needs of the market, it transforms Colorpedia into a digital catalog/price list, available online in 6 different languages.