expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in german . march 2015 click show for important translation instructions . view a machine translated version of the german article . google s machine translation is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the english wikipedia . do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality . if possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article . after translating translated de alessi design must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance . for more guidance see wikipedia translation . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message alessi flagship store new york city alessi is a housewares and kitchen utensil company in italy producing everyday items from plastic and metal created by famous designers . from the 1990s onward alessi has been associated with the notion of designer objects otherwise ordinary tools and objects executed as high design particularly in a post modern mode from designers such as philippe starck . many of the early memorable designer kettles designer toothbrushes designer kitchenware and so on were alessi products citation needed though competition in this product category has greatly increased since then . contents 1 history 1.1 1920s to 1940s 1.2 1950s and 1960s 1.3 1970s and 1980s 1.4 1990s to the present 2 designers and their designs 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit interior of an alessi store in omegna italy 1920s to 1940s edit alessi was founded in 1921 by giovanni alessi . the firm began as a workshop in valle strona near lake orta in the italian alps near switzerland . an area known for its tradition in making small objects of wood or metal for in the house and in the kitchen in general . alessi started with producing a wide range of tableware items in nickel chromium and silver plated brass . the company s intention was to produce hand crafted items with the aid of machines . design in the current sense of the term began when carlo alessi born 1916 son of giovanni was named chief designer . carlo was trained as an industrial designer . between 1935 and 1945 he developed virtually all of the products alessi produced . in 1945 he ascended to chief executive and designed the coffee service . 1950s and 1960s edit in the 1950s the company was under the leadership of carlo alessi . 1 it was his brother ettore alessi who introduced the collaboration with external designers in 1955 . with some architects he designed a number of items which were created for the hotel needs . through his intervention caused many individual objects which were best sellers such as the historical series of wire baskets . one of the key designs of this period is the shaker from 1957 by luigi massoni and carlo mazzeri . this was designed in a series with an ice bucket and ice tongs as part of the program 4 for the 11 triennale in milan . 2 this was the first time that the alessi products got shown with manufactured goods . the 1950s were a difficult time to sell designer objects as it was only a few years after world war ii and many people could not afford designer objects . 1970s and 1980s edit in 1970 alberto alessi was responsible for the third transformation of the company . alessi was considered one of the italian design factories . in this decade under the leadership of alberto alessi the company collaborated with some design maestros like achille castiglioni richard sapper alessandro mendini and ettore sottsass . in the 70s alessi produced the condiment set salt pepper and toothpicks by ettore sottsass the espressomaker by sapper . the 1980s marked a period in which italian design factories had to compete with mass production . these movements had a different view on design for the italian design factories the design and therefore the designer was the most important part of the process while for the mass production the design had to be functional and easy to be reproduced . 3 also in the 1980s they changed their marketing image from factory to industrial research lab meaning that it is a place for research and production . for alessi the 80s are marked with some designs like the two tone kettle by sapper their first cutlery set dry by castiglioni . alessi collaborated with new designers like aldo rossi michael graves and philippe starck who have been responsible for the some of alessi s all time bestseller like the kettle with a bird whistle by graves . 1990s to the present edit in recent decades as the designer houseware market greatly expanded alessi faced increasing competition from other international manufacturers especially in lower cost products mass produced for retailers such as target corporation and j. c. penney . in the 1990s alessi started to work more with plastics at the request of designers who found it an easier material to work with than metal offering more design freedom and innovative possibilities . the 1990s were marked by the theme family follows fiction with playful and imaginative objects . artists designing for this theme included stefano giovannoni and alessandro mendini who designed fruit mama and the bestseller anna g. metal still remained a popular material for example the girotondo family by king kong . during the 2000s alessi collaborated with several architects for the coffee and tea towers with a new generation of architects such as wiel arets zaha hadid toyo ito tom kovac greg lynn mvrdv jean nouvel and un studio . these sets had a limited production of 99 copies . another remarkable design in the 2000s is the blow up series by fratelli campana . the brothers played with form and shape to create baskets and other objects that look like they would fall apart when touched . in 2006 the company reclassified its products under three lines a di alessi alessi and officina alessi . a di alessi is more democratic and more pop . this product line is the lower price range of alessi . the officina alessi is more exclusive innovative and experimental this is marked by small batch production series and limited series . alessi products are on display in museums worldwide like museum of modern art new york metropolitan museum of art victoria and albert museum pompidou centre and stedelijk museum italy . designers and their designs edit from 1945 until today alessi has collaborated with designers and even other brands or companies for their products . some key designs and their designers 1945 bomb by carlo alessi anghini 1978 condiment set salt pepper and toothpicks by ettore sottsass 1980 9090 caffettiera by richard sapper 1982 dry by achille castiglioni the first cutlery produced by alessi 1983 bollitore whistling water kettle by richard sapper . alessi s first designer kettle with a whistle whose pipe sings two tones miand si in harmony 1984 la conica by aldo rossi . this was rossi s first mass production design and its image earned immediate success for the then new officina alessi brand as well as becoming an 1980s design symbol . therefore it was soon to be followed by more rossi designs in this theme . 1985 kettle by michael graves . kettle is known for its singing bird when the water boils . followed by matching products like a sugar bowl and a creamer also designed by graves . this product has sold the greatest number of units in the history of the company . citation needed 1990 juicy salif by philippe starck 1989 girotondo family by king kong 1993 fruit mama by stefano giovannoni . the first design for the family follows fiction series 1994 anna g corkscrew by alessandro mendini . a best seller since it was first produced citation needed with a smiling face accompanied by a family of related objects for the table and kitchen 1995 mary biscuit by stefano giovannoni . biscuit container 1997 nono di antonio garlic crusher by guido venturini 2004 blow up citrus basket by fratelli campana 2006 kaj watch by karim rashid 2013 dressed by marcel wanders further explanation needed 2015 collo alto cutlery set by inga semp 4 a collaboration with the national palace museum of taiwan produced a collection of various kitchenware products with asian themes . citation needed oval breadbasket 1955 sapper kettle 1983 graves tea service 1983 graves kettle 1984 starck juicy salif juicer firebird gas lighter by guido venturini alessi fruit basket see also edit neapolitan flip coffee pot references edit chief executive alberto alessi the dream factory alessi since 1921 milan 1998 pp. 16 18 . http www.youtube.com watch v pgsldpwig7s cutlery set collo alto www.ingasempe.fr retrieved 15 november 2015 . external links edit alessi web page retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title alessi italian company & oldid 739887114 categories design companieskitchenware brandsitalian designitalian brandscompanies based in piedmontdesign companies established in 1921vehicle manufacturing companies established in 19211921 establishments in italyhidden categories articles to be expanded from march 2015all articles to be expandedarticles needing translation from german wikipediaarticles needing additional references from march 2015all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2012articles with unsourced statements from september 2015wikipedia articles needing clarification from september 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate 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