Innovation can be defined as a process in which something new that adds value is implemented. To do this, it is essential to keep abreast of the latest trends and seek customer satisfaction. Kriskadecor, with almost 100 years behind it, is a good example of how innovation has played a key role in defining its past, present and future.
Our history of innovation begins in 1926 in Montblanc, a former ducal village in the province of Tarragona (Spain), with an old town declared a historic-artistic site. At that time, Josep Maria Sans Amill, founder of the company, who was studying in Barcelona, bet with his colleagues that he could create a machine that would automatically join chain links.
At the same time, the owner of a nearby bakery explained to him that, during the summer, when he left the door open to ventilate, the place was full of flies. As a result of these two circumstances, he came up with the idea of developing the first iron curtains for doors, with the main purpose of preventing the entry of flies and insects. The rest is history. Little by little, word spread and chain curtains came to be used both in commercial premises and in private homes throughout the Mediterranean.
The Montblanc company’s history of expansion began in the 1960s, when the second generation, led by Josep Maria Sans Folch and his wife Josefina Esplugas, took the reins of the family project. After arduous research into raw materials, they designed new chain links and improved the technique for working with anodized aluminum. This made it possible to create a wide range of colors and the possibility of reproducing patterns and drawings.
The incorporation of design as an added value
With the turn of the century, after numerous adaptations and improvements in performance, as well as intense research and development work by the innovation department, aluminum chains left private homes and stores and began to show off in large hotels and buildings around the world. One of the first projects was the Casa Camper in Barcelona, a hotel designed by Fernando Amat, a merchant, promoter of Catalan design and director of the legendary Vinçon store.
After this project, many others followed. Brands such as Google, Martini, Kawasaki or Marriott have trusted us to transform their projects. So have architects and designers of the stature of Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola or Kengo Kuma, with whom we have collaborated in the recent architectural intervention of Gaudí’s Casa Batlló.
Today, the company is led by the third generation of the Sans family, who have continued the family’s trail of innovation, even developing a subdivision of exterior cladding with aluminum chains, as well as opening a second headquarters in the United States. Josep Maria and Maties keep in mind what their grandfather used to say: “There’s nothing that can’t be done; you just have to find the way”.
