Table Objects by Michael Graves for Alessi, Set of 10

One of the most prominent postmodern architects of the 20^th century, American architect and industrial designer Michael Graves produced a prolific body of work spanning office buildings, retail spaces, hospitals, and houseware products. Over the course of his career, in fact, Graves designed more than 350 buildings and over 2,500 products.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1934, Graves earned a Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati in 1958. He went on to obtain a Master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University in 1959. In 1960, Graves received the Rome Prize, and spent the following two years studying architecture at the American Academy in Rome. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1962, he began an architecture professorship at Princeton University, which lasted for 39 years. In 1964, he founded his own architectural firm—Michael Graves & Associates—in Princeton, New Jersey.

During the 1970s, Graves became known as one of the “New York Five,” a group of young, New York-based architects that championed a new and pure form of modernism, referencing the minimalistic aesthetic of Le Corbusier in the 1920s and ’30s. Alongside members Peter Eisenman (born 1932), Charles Gwathmey (1938-2009), John Hejuk (1929-2000), and Richard Meier (born 1934), Graves advocated this aesthetic in works like the Snyderman House in Fort Wayne, Indiana (1972)—a single-family dwelling that was celebrated by critics and architects as a refreshing and novel example of modernism.

In the 1980s, Graves helped shift the architectural conversation from pure forms to a new language of hybrid, namely postmodern design. He espoused a humanistic approach, bringing color and art back into architecture. During this period, famed Italian architect Ettore Sottsass asked Graves to join his artistic collective Memphis, a tribe of radical, like-minded designers who questioned the conventional view of design and who helped to define the postmodern style. Graves contributed to Memphis with several designs, including the Plaza Dressing Table (1981) and the Stanhope Bed (1982). Graves’ seminal architectural work came in 1982, with the opening of Oregon’s Portland Building. The building received mixed reviews, but Graves’ postmodern building was recognized for its historical importance, earning an award from the American Institute of Architects in 1983.

During the 1990s, Graves collaborated with the American retail chain Target on a home goods line that helped solidify the notion that great design should be available to everyone. Some of Graves’ peers saw the partnership as a commercial sell-out, however Graves believed design could be used as a great corporate strategy. When asked whether he worried about injuring his reputation, Graves replied simply, “Just the opposite. It was my hope to do that.” In the years since, several other noted designers have followed suit by collaborating with the retail giant, including the likes of Dror Benshetrit, Marcel Wanders, and Karim Rashid, among others.

In 2003, Graves became paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord infection. Soon after, he became an advocate for health-oriented design. Using design to improve healthcare experiences for patients, families, and clinicians, Graves was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Healthcare Design by the Center for Health Design, and, in 2013, President Obama appointed Graves to the United States Access Board, which is devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities.

Graves’ most prominent architectural projects include: the Humana Building in Louisville, Kentucky (1982), Team Disney Building in Burbank, California (1986), Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan (1990), Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in The Hague (1993), Denver Public Library (1995), Indianapolis Art Center (1996), and an expansion of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, which was proposed in the mid-1980s, but never realized.

He has designed projects for the likes of Dansk, Disney, JC Penney, Swid Powell, and many other globally recognized brands. His most notable design collaboration, however, was with the Italian brand Alessi; the partnership lasted decades and Graves produced more than 150 products for the company in that time. His famous whistling bird 9093 Kettle (1985) became the Alessi’s bestseller with more than two million sold to date.

Over the course of his career, Graves received several prestigious awards and accolades, including the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 1999, the AIA Gold Medal in 2001, the Richard H. Driehaus Prize in 2012, and the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2015. Graves was the first architect to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2010 as well as the first recipient of the Michael Graves Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey AIA. Notably, Graves received fourteen honorary doctorates, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Graves passed away in Princeton in 2015 at the age of 80. 

Italian architect and theoretician Aldo Rossi came to international prominence as an outspoken proponent of neo-rationalism. Adapting a postmodern approach, he advocated for a return to a more classical design aesthetic that embraced forward-facing expressions.

Rossi was born in Milan in 1931. Between 1949 and 1959, he studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano under the advisorship of architect Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967), whose work bridged the Beaux-Arts and modernist movement. Through the years of Rossi’s studies, the field of architecture in Italy was focused on reconstruction efforts following the damage of WWII. The tenets of modernism were not adequately answering Italy’s urgent building needs, as modernist structures didn’t always couple well with older buildings that were still intact. The limitations of modernist theory stayed with Rossi throughout the course of his career.

From 1955 to 1964, Rossi collaborated with architectural magazine Casabella as a contributor and editor. In 1959, he opened his own architectural firm in Milan. From the 1960s onward, he took on a long string of professorships at major universities—including his alma mater, the Institute of Architecture in Venice, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, among others—focusing primarily on architectural theory. In 1960, Rossi collaborated with Casabella colleague and friend, Carlo Aymonino (1926-2010), on the design of the Milan Monte Amiata housing complex, which caused a sensation among the international architecture community for the way it blended both austere aesthetics and historical motifs. The project drew inspiration from the writings of Adolf Loos (1870-1933), the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), the pro-social utopianism of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation (1947-52).

In 1966, Rossi published the influential book The Architecture of the City. Formed from previous lectures and notes he had written, the book was a manifesto against functionalism and modernism—arguing that a city is a complex, man-made object that develops organically over time. Rossi believed a city should be viewed from a historical perspective and was in favor of reinventing old architectural styles for the modern era. The job of the architect, in Rossi’s view, is to design in congruence with what is already established.

From the 1970s onwards, Rossi’s long-held architectural ideas gelled in the Neo-Rationalist movement, known as “La Tendenza” in Italy. Championed by fellow Italian architects Giorgio Grassi, Massimo Scolari, Ezio Bonfanti, and Carlo Aymonino, among others, La Tendenza aimed at socially and politically engaged architecture that would answer needs beyond pure, practical utility. Rossi’s many successful Tendenza projects include the minimalist and sober Cemetery of San Cataldo (1971-84) in Modena, designed in collaboration with Gianni Braghieri; the floating Teatro del Mondo (1979) for the Venice Biennale, an homage to 18th-century Venice; Hotel il Palazzo (1987-94) in Fukuoka, Japan; and the Bonnefanten Museum (1995) in Maastricht. Beyond his architectural work, Rossi was commissioned by major design brands to create numerous furniture and accessories designs, which often referenced his building projects. Standouts include the Conical Kettle (1984) and La Cupola Espresso Maker (1988) for Alessi, the Teatro Chair (1983) and Milan Chair for Molteni, and the Parigi Sofa (1989) for Unifor.

Rossi won many awards over the course of his career; most notably, he was the first Italian to win the Pritzker Prize for Architecture (1990).  He passed away in 1997, but remains one of the leading postmodern architects, whose original design aesthetic continues to inspire.  

* With special thanks to Fondazione Aldo Rossi

Born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1917, architect-designer Ettore Sottsass grew up in Milan. He studied architecture at the Polytechnic of Turin, graduating in 1939. As a member of the Italian army, Sottsass spent most of World War II in a Yugoslavian concentration camp. After the war, he returned to Milan and opened his first studio in 1947. Like most Italian designers in these years, he focused on activities to help the postwar reconstruction efforts, including exhibition design.

In 1958, he began working with Olivetti, for whom he designed multiple landmark objects—including Valentine, the brand’s iconic 1969 red plastic typewriter—and transformed the large, cold electronics and office machinery of the day into playful, accessible objects of desire.

During the 1960s, Sottsass spent time in both India, where he was deeply affected by the country’s vibrant colors and mythologies, and the U.S., where he embraced pop art culture. These influences can be seen in Sottsass's ceramic designs through the rest of his life.

In 1973, he cofounded Global Tools, an experimental design collective, alongside Gaetano Pesce, Alessandro Mendini, and others. During the ’70s, he collaborated with Alessi, Baccarat, and Knoll, designing everyday items like condiment sets and decanters. Other manufacturers that Sottsass designed for include Artemide, Bitossi, O-Luce, Poltronova, Skipper, Stilnovo, and Zanotta.

In 1980, he formed the architecture/design firm Sottsass Associati. In 1981, he founded the Memphis Group, an influential, flamboyant design firm known for its brightly colored post-modern furniture, ceramics, and lighting. He remained with the Group until 1985, at which point he turned his attentions again to architecture. He died at the age of 90.

Born in 1949 in Paris, designer Philippe Starck has been described as a provocateur, a defender of democratic design, and “a superstar on the French design scene.” It’s said that as a child, Starck slept under the drafting table of his father, who was an inventor and aeronautics engineer. Starck went on to study at the École Camondo in Paris, but was later quoted as saying that he “learned nothing” there and was, instead, driven by his own curiosity.

Around 1968, Starck set up his own studio in Paris, with a special focus on inflatable designs; he collaborated with the master of blow-up furniture, designer Quasar Khanh. The following year, Starck debuted an inflatable structure at Salon de l’Enfance and caught the attention of fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who straightaway offered him an art director position. 

In the mid to late 1970s, Starck found success designing nightclub interiors, like La Main Bleue in Montreuil and Les Bain Douches in Paris. As the 1980s neared, Starck launched a company called Starck Product—later named Ubik after the Philip K. Dick novel—and began producing furniture, lighting, and accessory designs for major manufacturers like Alessi, Driade,  Flos, Kartell, and Vitra.

In 1983, Starck’s international design celebrity began to build when French president François Mitterrand invited him to renovate the private apartments of the Élysée Palace. Not long after, Starck began to receive regular commissions for restaurant and hotel interiors. Highlights from this phase of his career include Café Costes in Paris (1984), Manin in Tokyo (1985), Theatron in Mexico City (1985), the Royalton (1988) and Paramount (1990) hotels in New York City, and the Delano Hotel in Miami Beach (1995). In 1999, Starck partnered with developer John Hitchcox to launch Yoo, a design firm dedicated to residential and commercial interiors.

Starck is arguably the most prolific designer living today, and any listing of his many iconic works must be abbreviated. Among the standouts, however, you’ll find Miss Dorn Chair for VIA and later for Driade (1980); Pat Conley I Chair for XO (1983); J. Série Lang Chair for Driade (1986); Hot Bertaa Kettle for Alessi (1987); Miss Donna Mirror for OWO and later for Alessi (1987); Lola Mundo Chair for Driade (1988); Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer for Alessi (1990); W.W. Stool for Vitra (1990); Louis 20 Chair for Vitra (1991); Miss Sissi Table Lamp for Flos (1991); Vicieuse Coffee Table for Driade (1992); Excalibur Toilet Brush for Heller (1993); Jim Nature Portable Television for Thomson (1994); Rosy Angelis Lamp for Flos (1994); Dr. No Chair for Kartell (1996); Dr. Scud Fly Swatter for Alessi (1998); La Marie Chair for Kartell (1998); Miss C.O.C.O. Folding Chair for Cassina (1998); Gnome Stools for Kartell (1999); Bubble Club Sofa for Kartell (2000); Hudson Chair for Emeco (2000); Louis Ghost Chair for Kartell (2002); and Guns Lamp for Flos (2005).

In addition to furniture, electronics, and product design, Starck has tackled several larger-scale designs, like the Alhóndiga Cultural & Leisure Centure in Bilbao (2010), Port Adriano Harbor in Palma de Mallorca (2012), Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s yacht (2012), P.A.T.H Prefabricated Homes for Riko (2013), and Le Nuage Sports Center in Montpellier (2014), among many others.

Starck’s work can be found in most European and American museums, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, MoMA and the Brooklyn Museum in New York, Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, and Design Museum London. The Pompidou Center hosted a Starck retrospective in 2003. His many awards are too numerous to name.

In 1921, the Italian metal-turner Giovanni Alessi purchased a parcel of land in Omegna, in the Piedmont region of Italy, and together with his brother founded a small atelier called Fratelli Alessi Omegna. The workshop produced crafted tableware and household objects in metal and wood, often inspired by the Art Nouveau designs popular in Austria and Britain at the time. With an obsession for quality finishes and careful execution, Giovanni propelled Alessi toward quick success.

In 1932, Giovanni’s eldest son, Carlo joined the family business and, between 1935 and 1945, designed most Alessi’s products. Over the years, he played a vital role in integrating industrial processes into Alessi production and generating large-scale commissions from hotels and restaurants. In 1945, another son of Giovanni, Ettore, joined the company as head of the technical office and began to commission designs from independent designers, such as Luigi Massoni.

In the 1970s, the third generation of the Alessi family joined in: the visionary Alberto Alessi. Influenced by the vanguard design community active in Milan at the time, Albert instigated a campaign to transform Alessi into one of the most forward-thinking design brands in the world. He believed that the “function” of objects must always include an emotional component, and brought in a powerhouse roster of designers and architects to develop new collections imbued with poetry, identity, and spirit.

In the ensuing decades, Alessi forged relationships with the likes of Eero Aarnio, Ron Arad,Mario Botta, the Bouroullec Brothers, Andrea Branzi, the Campana Brothers, the Castiglioni Brothers, Nigel Coates, Joe Colombo, Michele De Lucchi, Naoto Fukasawa, Frank Gehry, Anna Gili, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Piero Lissoni, Enzo Mari, Alessandro Mendini, Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel, Karim Rashid, Richard Sapper, Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck, Studio Job, and Marcel Wanders, among many, many more.

Alessi pieces can be found in museum collections around the world, especially Carlo Alessi’s Bombé Tea & Coffee Service (1945), Richard Sapper’s 9091 Tea Kettle (1983), Michael Graves’s 9093 Teakettle (1985), Philippe Starck’s Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer (1990), and Alessandro Mendini’s Anna Gili Corkscrew (1993). Another standout project is the 1983 Tea & Coffee Piazza series, for which Alberto commissioned several limited-edition, “architecture in miniature” tableware objects from major architects like Hans Hollein, Charles Jencks, Richard Meier, Aldo Rossi, Stanley Tigerman, and Robert Venturi.

Despite the vast diversity of its product lines, Alessi has maintained its focus on high-quality production, especially for products made with nickel, chrome, silver-plate, and plastic. With nearly a century of history behind it, the family-owned company remains an established industry leader. In 1998, the Alessi Museum was established at the Alessi headquarters outside of Milan to house prototypes, products, drawings, photographs, publications, and catalogues from Alessi and other companies, documenting the history of the home and of Italian design.

* All images courtesy of Alessi