/ By Ettore Sottsass Centrepiece – / Alessi 100 Values ​​Collection – Alessi

Notice to collectors, design fans and all those who want to rediscover the essential figures of Italian design!The iconic Italian brand Alessi is celebrating its 100th anniversary with “Alessi 100 Values ​​Collection”: a collection of surprising objects from the Archives of the Alessi Museum. This series brings together projects that have never been produced before, never-before-seen versions of cult items as well as icons in the making. Twelve projects, each referring to a different value, will be presented over twelve months, from April 2021 to March 2022. “Alessi 100 Values ​​Collection” celebrates 100 years of research in the field of applied arts and the beginning of a new century of experimentation… Alessi or “industrial craftsmanship”… Alessi is halfway between a series production unit and a craftsman’s workshop. All operations there are carried out using machines, but machines used in a spirit of craftsmanship, rather than conditioned by the logic of an assembly line. In this way, they comply with all the designer’s expressive requirements. The Twergi collection was born in 1989 from a desire to revitalise the tradition of wood-turning, an iconic source of know-how of the region where Alessi is based. Fascinated by the simplicity of the wood lathe, an ancestral artisanal machine, Ettore Sottsass, Andrea Branzi and many young designers of that time were inspired to design creations that are reissued today. Alessi is reissuing some of Ettore Sottsass’s finest creations from the Twergi collection. New chromatic combinations are now added to the original colours. This centrepiece is made in Italy using a partly manual turning process, from solid FSC-certified lime wood. It consists of a leg on a round base, topped by a large bowl. This centrepiece takes on an aesthetic dear to Sottsass, with the superimposition of volumes and shapes of different sizes that reach upwards, like “a tree with formidable branches and roots firmly anchored in the ground”. Fascinating with its incisive, assertive design, it’s a small work of art that will capture attention in any interior. Variations in grain, knots and the look of the wood make each centrepiece unique. The large bowl can hold fruit, chocolates and sweets, dried flowers or other decorative items, according to your personal taste and requirements. Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) is recognised worldwide as one of the great innovators of design and architecture of the second half of the 20th century. An influential master whose creations are exhibited in the greatest museums of design and contemporary art, he received numerous prizes and awards during his long career.