The celebration of coffee design through international exhibitions

Passione Italia: l’arte dell’Espresso. This is the title of the exhibition path that Elisabetta Pisu has undertaken first in Copenhagen and now Santos, in Brazil.

An exhibition capable of highlighting every detail linked to the evolution of coffee design. From historic pieces to the most futuristic ones to dive headlong into a historical-cultural cross-section that also passes through the most consumed drink in the world.

“Northern Europe and in particular Denmark are among the largest consumers of coffee in the world and, at the same time, creative places that have generated a particular style in design. Starting from these premises, the exhibition presented in Copenhagen focused mainly on the story of the aesthetic and technological evolution of machines and coffee makers for preparing coffee, presenting objects born from the genius of very well-known architects and designers, with original shapes and functions, which have determined the ever-increasing quality of coffee", says Doctor Pisu.

“In the Brazilian exhibition, however, we highlighted the social importance of Italian immigration and how this has economically influenced coffee production.

A growth due to the transformation of a working class that over time became landowners and the main exporter of coffee in Italy, where important brands of roasting companies were born, which have established themselves on the international market”. Signs of belonging and diffusion that place coffee as a cultural identity at the centre of the cycle.

“An economic circuit that has affirmed espresso coffee as Italian cultural heritage. From Denmark to Brazil passing through Italy, we have symbolically traced a circle that links the history, economy and design of coffee”.

How coffee makers have stylistically adapted throughout history

“From the Jebena, the first terracotta coffee maker from Ethiopia using the boiling method, to the Vacuum, the ancestor of the moka pot, which exploited steam pressure, to the first reversible coffee maker from 1800, coffee maker models have constantly adapted to technical, historical and habit developments”.

Like any self-respecting functional piece of furniture, coffee makers have also proven to be able to keep up with the times.

“In our country, and in particular in Naples, the French model of the Caffettiera or Cuccumella took hold, which was then followed in 1933 by the all-Italian invention of the iconic Moka Express in aluminum with an octagonal base by Alfonso Bialetti, produced industrially starting in the 1950s.

Having found the technical solution for a pressure coffee with excellent organoleptic results, some far-sighted industrial entrepreneurs, such as Alessi, relied on the creativity of designers and architects, for the creation of a beautiful, pleasant, colorful and unusual shaped object, which reflected the stylistic evolution of the times”.

The models that made history

“Thus were born the Carmencita by Marco Zanuso for Lavazza; the 9090 by Richard Sapper, the first espresso coffee maker in the history of Alessi, followed by La conica and La cupola by the great architect Aldo Rossi; the Accademia by Ettore Sottsass for Lagostina in Memphis style and the Opera by Cini Boeri for La Pavoni.

The projects for the Tea & Coffee Piazza and Tea & Coffee Towers services, by Alessi under the direction of Alessandro Mendini, with their small-scale urban representation, opened the era of postmodern design.

As for the Illy Art Collection project, where the cup becomes an art object thanks to the works of artists such as Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Jannis Kounellis and Michelangelo Pistoletto”.

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