Notre historie

Albino Lardi was born in Graubünden in 1918. As early as 1936, he began working for a local company (a marble works working mainly with Serpentine from the valley), which supplies marble masons throughout Switzerland. From stone quarrying, he quickly moved on to workshop cutting. However, in disagreement with his employer, he left the company in 1949.

Albino arrives in Geneva at the urging of his brother Placide, a toolmaker responsible for crane maintenance at the Marbrerie Minazzi in Carouge. Albino in turn brought his brother-in-law, Louis Rossi, into the business, which he bought a few years later and renamed Marbrerie Rossi.

Albino remained with Minazzi until 1959, when he founded his own workshop: Albino Lardi Marbre Artistique. Albino invented and patented a system for making mosaic coffee tables.

In the meantime, Placide left for the United States, where he landed a job as a toolmaker for a car manufacturer. Following the experience of his brother, who returned to Geneva in 1964, Albino had the idea of selling his mosaic tables on the American market. But the venture was a failure.

Albino diversifies into funeral monuments, staircases and general marble work. Then, in collaboration with various artists and architects, he created fountains and decorations for building facades and entrances using marble mosaics.

Diversification means hiring new talent. In 1968, Jean, the fourth sibling, joined the company, alongside Gildo and Albina (his two eldest siblings). In 1976, Albino fell ill and entrusted the management of the company to his three children.

1996: the first CNC machines hit the market. With innovation in mind, Jean decided to buy one and expand the workshop. He'll never stop equipping himself. As a result, Lardi Marbriers is now at the cutting edge of technology.

In 2005, Albina retired, leaving the company to Jean, who transformed it into a limited company in 2006 under the name Lardi SA. Damien, his eldest son, who joined the company in 2004, works with him in calculation, then planning, and finally project management.

Since 1996, Lardi has been producing up to fifteen work plans a week. But over time, international competition caused the company to lose a quarter of its sales. A brainstorming session and a meeting led to the opening up of new markets and the renewal of the company, without denying its primary vocation: to create emotion.

This renewal affects all areas of the company. Starting with a new identity: Lardi Marbrerie becomes Lardi Marbriers - a tribute to the craftsmen who "make" Lardi, a point to which Jean has always been very attentive. The new company name is accompanied by new communication tools, including a completely redesigned website. But the most important development was the construction of the factory in Vernier.