The Alessi Museum celebrates 25 years with a design exhibition -

The Alessi Museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special exhibition that traces not only the most notable moments in the company’s history, but also the forgotten and unknown stories.

The museum, opened in 1998 and designed by Alessandro Mendini, is located in Omegna, on Lake Orta, Italy, where the brand was founded. The new installation celebrating his historic collection, which includes more than 25,000 objects ranging from prototypes to abandoned ideas, is on display in Milan at the Alessi flagship store (until 30 September 2023). “This is the first time we have had an in-store exhibition,” says museum curator Francesca Appiani, who also led the new installation. “We wanted to explain to customers, visitors or a passerby what is behind our pieces. It is a display that aims to represent the uniqueness of Alessi.

Alessi Museum: 25 years of design stories

“Bombé” by Carlo Alessi

(Image credit: Delfino Sesto Legnani)

Through 25 stories from the museum’s collections, Alessi pays tribute to the museum’s 102-year history, as Alberto Alessi, grandson of the company’s founder, explains: “Alessi is best known for its kitchen accessories. However, since 1921 and for the next 60 years, it has been produced for other areas of the home .

A sign of change is the espresso coffee machine, the “9090”, designed by Richard Sapper and in production since 1979. “This coffee machine has a special importance in our history because it was one of the first Compasso d’Oro Awards (which it won), and the first piece of Alessi is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Next to it is a prototype of a gasketless coffee machine: “We worked on it for a long time, without success.”

La Coppola coffee machine, including prototypes, designed by Aldo Rossi

(Image credit: Delfino Sesto Legnani)

In some cases, it’s the successful failures that matter, Appiani explains. ‘Take, for example, Philippe Starck’s ‘Hot Bertaa’ kettle. Production was suddenly halted due to a functional problem with the casting machine, yet it is widely published and sought after by museums and art collectors.’

“Tea and Coffee Square” designed by Michael Graves

(Image credit: Delfino Sesto Legnani)

As a visitor, whether you enter the store or peek into the windows, you can taste distinctive icons, secret ideas that never emerged from the headquarters in Lake Orta, but also absolute surprises, like the saxophone from 1988: ‘Alessofono’ represents the pinnacle of Alessi craftsmanship. “Mendini created the saxophone with the help of important professionals,” says Alberto Alessi.

The Alessifono project began in Quarna Soto, a small town known for producing wind instruments, not far from Alessi’s headquarters. Their work was influenced by large-scale industrial production: “The city doctor, who knew my father, called him for help. As a result, a very comfortable instrument was born, completely handmade and produced to order. “One of the most expensive pieces in the catalogue,” says Alessi.

“Coffee Maker with Heart and Stars” by Riccardo Dalice

(Image credit: Delfino Sesto Legnani)

There’s also room for the unexpected, like Enzo Mari’s “Ecolo” plastic vases, from 1995: “I’m a big fan of these,” Alessi begins. ‘Mary wanted to turn detergent bottles into a set of flower vases. We tried for a year before arriving at a compromise: a limited, numbered edition that she made by hand, along with an instruction manual, a highly refined product that we kept in the catalog for many years.’

“Citrus Basket”, designed by Alessi’s artistic team

(Image credit: Delfino Sesto Legnani)

He concludes that Alessi places herself within the long tradition of art applied to small domestic objects. “A very long history, dating back to the invention of the cup or plate. This explains why we spend so much time working on expressive languages and design forms. This is where our efforts to collect, collect and display our work are important.”

“25 Stories, 25th Anniversary of the Alessi Museum” will be on display at the Alessi Milan flagship, via Manzoni 14, until September 30, 2023.

alessi.com