image credit: www.chi-athenaeum.org

The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design has honored 5 Alessi products with their prestigious “2010 GOOD DESIGN” award: a 60 year old pretigious program of acknowledging design excellence all over the world. The 5 products that received the award include: “Tonale” Table Set by David Chipperfield (2009), “Try it Trivet” by Dror Benshetrit (2009), “Essentiel de Pâtisserie” Cake Plate by matali crasset (2010), “La Via Lattea” Cheese Knives by Anna and Gian Franco Gasparini (2009), and “La Stanza dello Scirocco” basket by Mario Trimarchi (2009)

Tonale Tableware by David Chipperfield for Alessi

Tonale, by David Chipperfield was inspired by Asian ceramics and a desire to refine utilitarian household products. The colour way in these pieces is exquisite… largely neutral and muted in over all appearance but each colour is unique and beautiful. They also have a wonderful matte finish which allows the surfaces to absorb light in a soft and gentle way.

Try it Trivet by Dror Benshetrit for Alessi

Try it Trivet by Dror Benshetrit is a clever and fun series of circular trivets that can be joined together to create on snakelike support for warm objects on the table. This is a versatile kitchen tool that is bound to incite conversation at the dinner table.

Cake Plate by Matali Crasset for Alessi

Matali Crasset’s cake plate is another design that works with multiple units. It consists of two rings that fit inside of the each other and one small circle that nests in the centre of the inner ring. It can be used in multiple ways for desserts large and small but whatever size your sweets are, they will most certainly end up looking intriguing and delicious on this pedestal.

La Via Lattea Cheese Knife by Anna and Gian Franco Gasparini for Alessi

The blades of the La Via Lattea cheese knives were specially engineered for specific density cheeses. The organic shapes and wooden handles make them beautiful as objects in addition to their functionality.

La Stanza dello Scirocco basket by Mario Trimarchi for Alessi

La Stanza dello Scirocco basket by Mario Trimarchi is inspired by the Sicilian wind blowing objects across the countryside. I like to look at these pieces like a graphic image in 3D. The way the light reflects on each little rectangular cut out is mesmerizing as each one seems to be on a different angle in space.

Congrats to Alessi! We look forward to hearing more about these products and much more from them in the future.

Find Alessi on our website, here.
Visit Alessi’s webiste, here.
Read more about the GOOD DESIGN awards by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, here.

“In 1951 Isamu Noguchi visited the Japanese town of Gifu, known for its manufacture of lanterns and umbrellas from the mulberry bark paper and bamboo. Inspired by the lanterns illuminating night fishing on the Nagara River, Noguchi designed the first of his lamps that would be produced by the traditional Gifu methods of construction. He called these works Akari, a term meaning light as illumination, but also implying the idea of weightlessness. Extending the concept of illuminated sculpture that he developed during the 1940s in New York, Noguchi employed abstract shapes to unite the simplicity of Japanese aesthetics with the principles of contemporary art and design. More that home furnishing, Akari are light sculptures.

“With the warm glow of light cast through hand-made paper on a bamboo frame, Isamu Noguchi utilized traditional Japanese materials to bring modern design to the home. Like the beauty of falling leaves and the cherry blossom, Noguchi wrote, Akari are ‘poetic, ephemeral, and tentative.’ And he was fond of saying, ‘All that you require to start a home are a room, a tatami, and Akari.’ ”

View all Noguchi Lamps