Where design and art meet 

Posted on by magshegs

magshegs

The italian brand Alessi was founded in 1921. It began selling stainless-steel equipment to Italy´s professional kitchens, a classical low-margin high-volume good for mainly professional buyers. But something changed. From the 1980s, Alessi began selling high-margin luxury goods. And today, the Italian design is sold all over the world. From Italy, to London and to New York. 

Alessi´s products have been called “museum quality tableware” because the design organization has succeeded in combining art and functionality and the organization is situated between art and design. The designer Alberto Alessi first tried to link Alessi to the art word with a collaboration with world class sculptors. The collaboration was about mass producing industrial art objects. Unfortunately, the collaboration failed. Instead of steel sculptures, Alessi began aiming toward manufacturing perfectly functional household products that could be mistaken for art. It led to Alessi creating products that can live in two environments; in the kitchen, where it functions well and in the living room, where it looks good. In other words, Alessi has gone from having some truly artistic products, but less useful, to more useful, and still luxurious products. The design approach Alessi is using is as explained a combination of functionality and art. Their products should be used, but also seen. In addition, the design approach in unique because Alessi creates many different products, more than their competitors. This design approach has led Alessi to create a turnover almost every year since the end of the 1990s. According to The New York Times, Alessi created a brand new market for “designer kitchenware”. Today, their biggest competitors are high end kitchen suppliers, who also focus a lot on design and not just functionality. For example Bialetti, Kitchenaid and Iittala. 

Alessi created a bridge in the mind of the customers, between the artistic and the useful. And it led to the customers being willing to pay more for the products, because they are not just art or just functional. They are both. According to their own website, “Alessi´s products are the result of the constant reconciliation of art and industry”. And I am one of the customers who have fallen for their products. Me and my spouse have a large, golden fruit basket from Alessi on my dining room table. And I don’t even use it for fruit. I only use it as a decoration. Pretty much as art. Creating this bridge also makes the Italian brand compete on two different levels. It competes with other functionality organizations, and also with other mort artsy organizations. 

Some may ask whether Alessi is art or design. As mentioned, I use their fruit basket as a decoration only. Does that make it art? In our lectures, we have learned that one of the main differences between art and design is that design often has a function. Most of the time, art does not. This leads us to concluding with Alessi being a design organization rather than an art organization. 

(493 words)

Sources: 

Leave a comment