Alessi
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Alessi is an Italian family-run company, famous for its playful design of affordable objects and appliances for the kitchen, created in colorful plastics and stainless steel. For the designs, Alessi attracts a selection of the world's foremost architects and designers.
History
Alessi was founded in 1921, when Giovanni Alessi bought a piece of land in Omegna, Italy for the startup of a company that made household objects in copper, brass and nickel silver. Giovanni's son Carlo assisted him from a very young age and was responsible for the objects created by the firm from the mid-1930s till 1945. Carlo Alessi introduced design and enabled, among others, the creation of the famous Italian Bombé coffee and tea sets.
After World War II, Carlo Alessi took over the firm, and first concentrated on mass-production of stainless steel household items. His youngest brother, Ettore Alessi, introduced substantial technical knowledge in the area of cold pressing of steel. Ettore attracted external designers from 1955, including the architects Carlo Mazzeri, Luigi Massoni and Anselmo Vitale.
Carlo's son Alberto Alessi joined Alessi in 1970; as the firm's current director, he invited the impressive list of contemporary designers who would make the firm world famous. Alessandro Mendini is the most important among them, since he has also worked for Alessi as a design consultant, architect and company historian.
Designers
A selection of famous designers and architects that have worked for Alessi:
- Mario Botta
- Norman Foster
- Future Systems
- Frank Gehry
- Michael Graves
- Zaha Hadid
- Hans Hollein
- Toyo Ito
- Charles Jencks
- Greg Lynn
- Richard Meier
- Alessandro Mendini
- Jasper Morrison
- MVRDV
- Jean Nouvel
- Aldo Rossi
- Richard Sapper
- Ettore Sottsass
- Philippe Starck
- Robert Venturi
- Guido Venturini