MAPEI – Materiali Autarchici per l'Edilizia e l'Industria (Autarchic Materials for Building and Industry), a company initially focused on manufacturing paints, is founded by Rodolfo Squinzi in Milan in 1937 with the help of his wife Elsa Banfi. The word “Autarchic” is then replaced by “Auxiliary” in reference to the use of materials supporting the building industry. (The old headquarters in Via Cafiero, which employed seven staff members back then, now houses the Corporate Research Centre of Milan, where research is carried out into developing new MAPEI products.) The first product to be manufactured, SILEXCOLOR, is a silicate paint that soon becomes one of the most popular in the entire MAPEI range. The company then begins focusing on manufacturing adhesives and products for installing resilient materials. Research, which has always been in the company’s DNA, results in the creation of ADESILEX, an adhesive for installing linoleum that evolved from Italeum.
PIANOLINA is created: A ready-to-use, magnesium gypsum-based skimming compound capable of lightening the load for installers. Sensing the enormous potential of ceramics, MAPEI launches ADESILEX P, the first solvent-based tiling adhesive. Another successful product soon follows: ADESILEX PM.
Giorgio Squinzi, who graduated with a degree in Industrial Chemistry, is still a student when he begins working for the company and contributing to its success by inventing a range of innovative products on an international scale. ADESILEX L1 alcohol-based adhesive for linoleum is introduced. This product makes linoleum adhere to the substrate, freeing installers from the burden of having to carry bags full of sand to the installation area. This is followed by ADESILEX P5, a bituminous solvent adhesive for tiled floors. And then that is followed by its successor, ADESILEX P7, an ultra rapid-setting elastomeric adhesive, and ADESILEX P9, a super-adhesive for ceramic tiles that could still be used up to half a day after being mixed. ADESILEX P9 is still manufactured and very popular for its technical performance.
MAPEI is projected into the future through KERABOND, MAPEI’s first polymer-free cementitious adhesive. The introduction of KERALASTIC meant tiles could now be applied on various types of surface: from cementitious render to metal. SIGILLANTE 3433 silicone sealant – which we now call MAPESIL AC – is created for making elastic seals in ceramic surfaces. In 1971 MAPEI captured everybody’s attention at Saie, an international building fair, by hanging a Fiat 500 from the ceiling attached to a tile by nothing more than MAPEI’s ADESILEX P9 glue.
The first phase of internationalization begins in Canada in 1978 through the opening of its first factory in Laval, Quebec, and the founding of MAPEI Inc., followed by MAPEI Corporation in the United States. This coincides with the launching of KERABOND + ISOLASTIC, the new system that allows ceramic tiles to be installed over plywood for the first time. Giorgio Squinzi takes over the company from his father Rodolfo in 1984 with the help of his sister, the lawyer Laura Squinzi. Giorgio’s wife, Adriana Spazzoli, takes control of the MAPEI Group’s Marketing and Communication operations.
MAPEI launches a new screed concept with MAPECEM and GRANIRAPID, and introduces ULTRACOLOR. New solutions for refurbishing and repairing concrete with MAPEGROUT and MAPEFER, and masonry with the MAPE-ANTIQUE line, are born. AQUAFLEX is the first ready-to-use liquid membrane for waterproofing terraces and balconies, which is soon followed by the revolutionary MAPELASTIC. The MAPEI professional cycling team is set up in 1993 and dominates many international races for years. There is a generation change within the company in the late 1990s: the Squinzis’ son Marco and daughter Veronica join the company, thus renewing the company’s commitment to the key sectors of Research & Development and Internationalization.
MAPEI Sport Service is founded in 1997 and, in 1998, the MAPEI professional cycling team triumphs at the Paris-Roubaix. In 2003, MAPEI takes over U.S. Sassuolo Calcio.
In 2006, MAPEI is the sponsor and lucky charm of the Italian soccer team when it wins the World Cup for the fourth time. ADESILEX P4, KERAFLEX MAXI and ELASTORAPID adhesives are created for installing ceramic and stone, along with MAPEQUICK for underground and underwater environments. MAPETHERM protects homes from the cold and heat and helps cut down on energy consumption, while MAPEGRID and FRP products consolidate the structures of old buildings. For cementitious and resin-based industrial floors, ULTRATOP and MAPEFLOOR products arrive on the scene.
MAPEI’s subsidiaries grow year after year and, with them, the number of product lines. The factory in Mediglia, in the province of Milan, now hosts new production equipment, including a dedicated packaging plant using new, ecological plastic bags. The UTT Laboratory for products dedicated to the underground sector is inaugurated, along with a Mobile Building Laboratory dedicated to admixtures. MAPEI is constantly focused on sustainability and formulating increasingly high-performance products. RE-CON ZERØ reflects this vision and is created to overcome the problem of returned concrete, an important contribution to a circular economy. MAPEI has a commitment to safeguard the environment and people's health that is also expressed through the commissioning of new manufacturing facilities using locally sourced and eco-sustainable materials. In 2016, MAPEI publishes its first Sustainability Report to share the results of these efforts with its stakeholders.
MAPEI celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2017. During those 80 years, MAPEI has contributed to restoration and conservation projects on buildings that are a part of our artistic and cultural heritage in Italy and all around the world. The children, Veronica and Marco, take over from their father Giorgio as the company’s CEOs in 2019. In addition, the board of directors currently includes their cousin, the architect Simona Giorgetta; the lawyer Laura Squinzi serves as President.
tales18 told tales illustrated by Carlo Stanga about MAPEI and the solutions provided towards the successful completion of some of the most significant projects in Italy and around the world over the last 80 years.
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