Once upon a time, coral could be found all over the Mediterranean and it was exported across the world in exchange for spices and perfumes. Designer Emma Silvestris has skilfully explored the imagery of the sea world to create this basket, which embodies the essential forms and levity of the organisms that populate the ocean. Designed in 2004, this basket paved the way for the Mediterraneo series.
Designer - LPWK and Emma Silvestris
Dimensions - 9.5cm x 21cm, 9.5 x 25cm (Height x Diameter)
Material - 18/10 stainless steel
Metaproject designer, LPWK graduated from DAMS in Bologna. In 1989 she wrote “L’officina Alessi. Alberto Alessi and Alessandro Mendini: ten years of projects, 1980-1990”. In 1990, with Alberto Alessi and Alessandro Mendini, she founded the Alessi Study Center (CSA), a place of experimentation that involves professionals and young creatives from various disciplines. There, she conducted workshops and created innovative collections proposing the concept of metaproject. Since 2000 she continued her collaboration by founding and directing the LPWK Design Studio. She’s currently a visiting associate professor at Domus Academy and NABA.
Emma Silvestris, born in Salerno in 1962, currently lives and works in Bari. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts, specialising in foreign literature and history of art, she subsequently worked as a teacher and researcher. Since 1990 she has been working in the field of design, taking part in the activities of the Special Studio in Bari. An eclectic and versatile designer, her projects combine soft, feminine lines, the precision and elegance of geometry and the use of ancient symbols.
For over a century, Alessi has been creating extraordinary objects that make people dream, feel, think and experience poetry in their daily lives. By collaborating with the best creative minds from around the world, Alessi brings the most unexpected and contemporary expressions of design culture into people’s homes.
The Italian company was founded in 1921 by Giovanni Alessi and initially concentrated on metal kitchenware. His products and designs of coffee pots became so popular, that by 1924 the brand name ‘Alessi’ was well established.
By the 1950s the company broadened its approach, deciding to collaborate with well-known designers. The aim was to break away from modernism and even traditional designs and to try more unconventional design ideas, including those from groups such as Studio Alchima (Alessandro Mendini) and Memphis (Ettore Sottsass). Other designers associated with Alessi include Aldo Rossi, Philippe Starck and Michael Graves. The collaborative and creative approach they use has become the hallmark of the Alessi brand.
Alessi is now a B Corp, a company which strives to maximise the positive impact they have on their employees, the communities in which they operate and the environment, by using the business as a force for regeneration and sustainability.
