Alessi Nut cracker Silver Metal. Dimensions: L 5 x W 2.5 x H 11 cm. Notice
to collectors, design fans and everyone who’d like to rediscover the essential
figures of Italian design! The iconic Italian brand Alessi is celebrating its
100th anniversary with the “Alessi 100 Values Collection”: this collection
celebrates the values that define the identity and practice of the Dream Factory
(Fabbrica dei Sogni). A collection of surprising objects, from the Alessi
Museum's Archive Fund, which includes projects that have never been produced
before, brand-new versions of cult objects as well as icons in the making.
Twelve projects, each referring to a different value, will be presented over
twelve months, from May 2021 to April 2022. Alessi 100 Values Collection
celebrates 100 years of applied arts research and the start of a new century of
experimentation. The tenth value placed in the spotlight by Alessi is Thingness.
The deep essence of the object is precisely what Enzo Mari reveals to us with
his Farfalla nutcracker. Alberto Alessi explains: “Thingness or the ability to
touch the very essence of an object, its very raison d'être, is a prerogative
common to all the best design projects. You could say that an object achieves
its thingness when it comes to represent and synthesise the gesture or activity
for which it was designed and created. To put it another way, it then acquires a
symbolic value and becomes an archetype of its category. A principle
that’s oh so difficult to grasp! One of the designers who has been most
attentive to this quest for thingness is Enzo Mari: nothing superfluous or
purely decorative in his creations, each of which follows a precise, almost
Calvinist logic, to achieve the very essence of the typology subjected to the
designer's examination. Such is the case with this gesture, borrowed from a
mechanical workshop, which involves turning a wing screw and tightening it until
the nut is squeezed tight.'' An archetypal object with an essential design, the
Farfalla nutcracker (“butterfly” in Italian) is a fine example of rigorously
hunting for the slightest superfluous element, an approach that has always
accompanied Enzo Mari's meta-project research. Here, then, is an object simply
defined by a few precise lines, which alone condense the reasons for its
existence. Designed in the late 1990s but never brought into production, this
2021 edition pays homage to one of the masters of Italian design. An
iconoclastic artist, designer and intellectual, Enzo Mari was one of the most
influential figures in Italian design during the second half of the 20th
century. Five-time winner of the Compasso d'Oro prize, he has been named the
critical conscience of design. This object is dedicated to all design
enthusiasts and those who wish to rediscover the critical approach to design
borne by Enzo Mari through a unique project. Enzo Mari: Design is all about
decanting, removing anything that is unnecessary or false.
