Is Memphis making a comeback? While I wouldn’t go that far, Alessi has unveiled their new Vite expresso maker, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the ’80s or ’90s. Designed by British-Canadian industrial designer Philippe Malouin, the bodies are cast aluminum while the base is magnetic steel (so they’ll work with induction ranges). The handles are thermoplastic resin.
As for the form, Malouin drew inspiration from junkyards:
“The Vite project was conceived in a completely unprecedented way in the history of Alessi. Malouin himself uses the term Scrapyard Works: a creative process that quite literally begins in scrapyards, where the designer retrieves metal fragments and gives them new life through recomposition and reinterpretation.”
“The coffee maker’s boiler echoes the form of a screw, a direct reference to the gesture involved in using the object. The aluminum of the boiler, contrasted with the colored tank, further emphasizes this connection.”
Alessi offers a 3-cup size $175 for and a 6-cup size for $230.