Tea & Coffee Piazza 1983
Aldo Rossi IT
Alessi IT
silver, glass, brass, enamel, quartz
purchase from the manufacturer, 1992
In 1979 the Italian company Alessi invited 11 renowned international architects to design a silver coffee and tea service. That commission proved to be mutually beneficial. This project enabled Alessi to evolve from a regional metalwork company into a global player for household appliances because it knew how to brilliantly market the reputation of the architects. For their part, the architects, who all came from the field of postmodernism, seized the opportunity to translate their buildings, which critics said belonged in Disneyland, to the scale of consumer products. Aldo Rossi took the term piazza (‘square’) quite literally: he imagined the different elements of his service as buildings in a city. He would later commercialize the coffee pot of this limited edition in a more user-friendly steel version.
SOURCES
Shannon Starkey, Collapse to expand: Alessi’s Tea and Coffee Piazza, ACSA International Conference Proceedings, 2012;
Met dank aan Fredie Floré.