The kettle that became a kitchen icon
Can a simple Kettle really be an icon in the kitchen?
Apparently, it certainly can when an unlikely marriage is created between Alberto Alessi (the head of the Alessi Design Factory) and one of America’s greatest 20th-century architects, Michael Graves.
The Alessi company, based in Crusinallo, near Lake Maggiore in Italy, is often thought of as a design house, but would prefer to be seen as a design-driven housewares company. In fact, its origins lie in the humble production of pots and pans and hotel items. The company’s iconic status as design leaders is really based on their ability to work collaboratively with people who often have ideas that don’t lend themselves well to industrial-scale production.
Of course, there are plenty of examples of architects designing consumer products as Zaha Hadid’s recent work for Germany’s WMF and now Alessi shows, but only when product manufacturers are prepared to embrace the idiosyncrasies of designers, the true icons ( or complete disasters) are born!
I would also suggest that when an item like a stove top kettle celebrates over 25 years of continuous production in its original form, it certainly deserves to be called a kitchen icon.
The Alessi ‘Singing Bird’ kettle, or 9093 to give it its proper name, was born in 1985 and was created by the first American commissioned by Alessi. Of course, that American, Michael Graves, was considered one of the most influential architects of the time.
Since its launch, the 9093 teapot has regularly appeared in interior photo shoots and is a favorite of kitchen designers who want to add a little pixie dust to their showrooms. Perhaps most surprisingly, Alessi has produced more ‘9093’ kettles than any other of his many products, including Philippe Starck’s ‘sputnik-type’ juicer.
Its success can be measured by the extensive ‘family’ of products it spawned, from sugar bowls to pepper mills, though Graves, an Art Deco-influenced postmodernist and professor of architecture at Princeton, still restricts the color palette. The introduction of cream (barely revolutionary) in 2003 followed by black in 2009 is the extent of Graves’ complacency in the face of commercial pressures.
On a practical front, the 9093 really works. The bird doesn’t just sing: the kettle is very stable, boils quickly and is easy to use. In fact, it is an almost perfect example of a combination of high design and smooth operation, which probably explains its extraordinary success.
Finally, a weird fact: the 9093 kettle starred in the movie Crocodile Dundee! Now, that’s not something you’d immediately associate with outback Australia, is it?