Alessi (Italian company)

Alessi is a housewares and kitchen utensil company in Italy, manufacturing and marketing everyday items authored by a wide range of designers, architects and industrial designers — including Achille Castiglioni, Richard Sapper, Marco Zanuso, Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass, Wiel Arets, Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Hani Rashid, Tom Kovac, Greg Lynn, MVRDV, Jean Nouvel, UN Studio, Michael Graves, and Philippe Starck.

A few years after World War I, Alessi started with producing a wide range of tableware items in nickel, chromium and silver-plated brass.

The 1950s were a difficult time as it was only a few years after World War II and many people could not afford to buy designer objects.

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 1970s, Alessi produced the Condiment set (salt, pepper and toothpicks) by Ettore Sottsass, the Espressomaker by Sapper.

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.

The space featured an Alessi gallery, espresso bar and retail in a renovated historic loft building.

Asymptote was responsible for not only the interior design of the space but also branding and the graphic identity, updating Alessi's image from its 1980s Postmodern style to a contemporary architectural ethos.