In this ancient city， change comes slowly. Narrow stone streets are much as they were when the Medici family ruled more than 500 years ago. The industrial revolution， world wars， and a flood forced change， but at one factory， old ways remain.

The Antico Setificio Fiorentino， or Antique Silk Factory of Florence. Here the rhythm of mechanical looms tell of a step back in time. These noisy 19th century looms create some of the worlds finest silk fabrics for draperies and upholstery. But here， they are the new machines.

On the other side of the factory are the real pieces of history. Stefano Benelli weaves silk fabric that machines cannot create， and he does it painstakingly， one thread at a time. Above the weaver， punch cards guide the looms through intricate patterns. These looms were built in 1780， and they employ the same principles of weaving used for centuries before that. Sabine Pretsch （Factory Director）： Everything is done like it was done in…in the ancient time， but we continue to do an evolution continuously. We invent， we create continuously， but using the old looms.

When other textile manufacturers threw away their slower handlooms after World War II， that left the Setificio alone in the industry. While industrialproduced silk typically has 3-4，000 threads running in one direction on a full piece of fabric， the silk produced on the antique handlooms has 12，000 threads. Thats up to four times as many allowing for strength without twisting， and the untwisted threads reveal the full prism effect of the silk.

Even before the weaving begins， silk threads are processed on machines nearly as old as the handlooms， going back 150 years. Then the threads are prepared differently depending on whether theyre for the weft， or width of the fabric， or warp， the lengthwise portion. For the weft， threads are wound again carefully so theyre not twisted. For the warp the threads are combined， but， again， not twisted.

Fabric from the Setificio cant be found in stores or catalogues. Every damask and brocade is custom made. And what may seem like difficult， repetitive monotony to some， is enjoyable to Benelli.

Stefano Benelli （Weaver）： …to the mind， its OK. Not stressful， yeah…

Its been said that perhaps no other city on Earth has preserved the grandeur and the grace of the Renaissance as well as Florence. It is appropriate， then， that here， at the Antico Setificio Fiorentino， style and tradition are woven together.

在這座古城里，變化發(fā)生得很緩慢。窄窄的石板街道基本上還是五百多年前美第奇家族統(tǒng)治時期的模樣。工業(yè)革命、兩次世界大戰(zhàn)和1966年的大洪災(zāi)給這里帶來了無可抗拒的改變，但在一家工廠里，古老的生產(chǎn)方式仍在繼續(xù)。

這家工廠名叫Antico Setificio Fiorentino，即佛羅倫薩老式絲綢廠。在這里，機(jī)械織布機(jī)有節(jié)奏的作業(yè)聲讓人恍如回到了過去。這些嘈雜的19世紀(jì)織布機(jī)為布業(yè)和室內(nèi)裝飾業(yè)供應(yīng)著世界一流的絲織品。不過，在這家工廠，它們已經(jīng)算是較新的機(jī)器了。

工廠的另一邊是幾臺真正有歷史的織布機(jī)。斯特法諾·本涅利所織的是機(jī)器制造不出的絲織品，他一根線一根線、一絲不茍地紡織著。在他的上方，穿孔卡引著織布機(jī)織出復(fù)雜精美的圖案。這些織布機(jī)制造于1780年，采用的是在那之前已經(jīng)沿用了數(shù)世紀(jì)的紡織原理。

薩比恩·普利許（廠長）：一切都是按舊時的方法來操作，不過我們在傳承的同時也會不斷發(fā)展，我們會用老式織布機(jī)來進(jìn)行革新，不斷地進(jìn)行創(chuàng)造。

二戰(zhàn)之后，其他的紡織品生產(chǎn)商都不再使用效率較低的手工織布機(jī)，佛羅倫薩老式絲綢廠成了業(yè)內(nèi)惟一一家仍在使用老式手織機(jī)和織布法的絲綢廠。工業(yè)化生產(chǎn)的絲綢，整幅織物上同一個方向的線一般是三千到四千根，而老式手織機(jī)織出的絲綢則能達(dá)到一萬二千根，是前者的四倍之多。這樣，絲線不必加捻，織物就能很有韌性，而且這些未加捻的絲線展現(xiàn)了絲綢豐富多彩的整體效果。

在紡織開始之前，絲線還要先在機(jī)器上進(jìn)行加工，加工絲線的機(jī)器幾乎跟那些手工紡織機(jī)一樣古老，已經(jīng)有150個年頭了。接下來會根據(jù)絲線是用作緯絲（織物上橫向的線）還是經(jīng)絲（織物上縱向的線）再進(jìn)行不同的準(zhǔn)備。對于緯絲，要將絲線仔細(xì)地再次繞好，沒有加捻;對于經(jīng)絲，則要將絲線并合在一起，但仍不加搓捻。

佛羅倫薩老式絲綢廠的產(chǎn)品在市面上是買不到的，產(chǎn)品目錄上也找不到。每一匹緞子、每一幅織錦都需要定制。在一些人看來，那些工序也許困難而且單調(diào)，但本涅利卻樂在其中。

斯特法諾·本涅利（紡織工人）：……對于大腦來說還好，不會有壓力，對……

有人說，也許世界上沒有第二個城市像佛羅倫薩這樣把文藝復(fù)興的宏偉和優(yōu)雅保存得如此之好。那么，在佛羅倫薩老式絲綢廠這里，傳統(tǒng)與個性相互交織，正與這個城市的氣質(zhì)完美契合。