Renowned Italian kitchen and housewares company Alessi has long been associated with excellence in design. It has recently cemented this position by winning four Good Design Awards 2012. “Ape” aperitif set by Giulio Iacchetti, “Floating Earth” tray by Ma Van Song, “Ming” tray by Zang Ke from the (Un)forbidden City collection and, from the AlessiLux collection, the “Lumière” table lamp with “Flame” and “Abatjour” LED bulbs designed by Giovanni Alessi Anghini and Gabriele Chiave were all recognised.
The Good Design Awards were founded in Chicago, USA in 1950 by architects Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. These international awards are highly regarded among the design community because they promote and celebrate new, visionary and innovative product concepts, invention and originality.
The “Ape” aperitif set was conceived for use at home or on the table or bar counter. It comprises three containers of various sizes: a toothpick holder, wooden chopping board and a wasteholder, a discreet accessory that is the perfect place to discard pits, seeds or other small waste items out of sight.
Alessi’s metaproject, the (Un)forbidden City, is curated by Hong Kong architect Gary Chang and aims to explore the potential of Chinese design in terms of domestic objects. Seven well-known Chinese architects were asked to tackle an industrial design project with each producing their own interpretation of an Alessi classic – the tray.
In collaboration with Foreverlamp, the AlessiLux lighting collection has produced a series of portable table luminaires that work with specially-designed LED bulbs which run on powerful, rechargeable batteries. The portable base contains a dimmer switch that adjusts the light source to the user’s desired brightness. (Note: “Flame” and “Abatjour” bulbs are sold in Europe while the “Lumière” table lamp is available in the USA).
These Alessi products will be featured (with other award recipients) on the Chicago Athenaeum website: www.chi-athenaeum.org
For more information about Alessi visit www.alessi.com
