The New Moka

Designed by architect David Chipperfield, Moka is an artist's interpretation of a timeless icon of the Italian culture. For those who don't want to compromise on the unmistakeable taste of coffee prepared with an espresso coffee maker.

An eleven-sided volume for a coffee maker with a familiar and at the same time innovative form: Chipperfield introduces a series of details that make the Moka design new and even more functional, such as the flat lid on which to place the cups to be heated - allowing optimum enjoyment of the aroma and flavour of the drink - or the position of the knob which allows you to easily raise the lid, using only one hand.

About Alessi

“A true design work must move people, convey emotions, bring back memories, surprise, and go against common thinking.” - Alberto Alessi

Founded in 1921 as a “Workshop for the processing of brass and nickel silver sheet metal, with foundry”, Alessi has always stood out for the high quality of its products. In almost a century of history, the company has gradually evolved to become one of the leading “Factories of Italian design”, capable of applying its expertise and excellence in design management to many different product types. Open to change and international development, Alessi at the same time has a strong bond with the traditions and cultural background of its area and continues to be synonymous with handcrafted objects produced with the help of machines.

Alessi’s mission is now one of translating its quest for the most advanced cultural, aesthetic, design and functional quality into mass production. Designer products are the result of the constant reconciliation of art and industry, of the “Immensity of Creative Potential” and the needs of the market. The company is committed to a design approach in which the most advanced expression of international creativity is always balanced against the desires of the general public. Alessi has been described as a “Dream Factory”, which uses its products to make people’s dreams come true, providing them with the Art and Poetry that they seek.

Alessi: The Design Factory

A journey inside and outside Alessi, to discover a Factory of Italian Design

Alessigraphy: the geography of Alessi production

SINCE THE COMPANY'S foundation in 1921 the majority of Alessi products have been manufactured through the cold working of metals, a tradition that is kept alive today by the skilled workers at the Crusinallo plant in Omegna.

Over time, Alessi also began to work with many other materials, such as porcelain, glass, wood, and plastic... A specific production method was developed for each one. Even when production takes place outside the Crusinallo plant, Alessi’s guidelines guarantee the company’s original production quality standards, continuing to reconcile industrial technological complexity with an artisanal eye for detail.

The objects produced from the different materials are manufactured in various production plants across the world. They remain original Alessi objects in that they are conceived with the same design excellence and produced with the same attention to quality that sets the company’s products apart.

The Designer: David Chipperfield

Sir David Chipperfield CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA British, born 1953, London David Chipperfield studied at Kingston School of Art and the Architectural Association in London. After graduating he worked at the practices of Douglas Stephen, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. David Chipperfield Architects was established in 1984 and the practice currently has over 200 staff at its offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai. The practice has won numerous national and international competitions and many international awards and citations for design excellence, including RIBA and AIA awards and the Stirling Prize 2007. In 1999 David Chipperfield was awarded the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal. In 2004 David Chipperfield was made an Honorary Member of the Florence Academy of Art and Design, and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to architecture. He was appointed Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2006, and in 2007 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and an Honorary Member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA). He was elected a Royal Academician (RA) in 2008 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University.

In 2009 David Chipperfield was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany – the highest tribute that can be paid to individuals for service to the nation – and in the UK New Year Honours 2010 was named Knight Bachelor for services to architecture in the UK and Germany. The same year he was awarded the Wolf Foundation Prize in the Arts and the Grand DAI Award (Verband Deutscher Architekten- und Ingenieurvereine) for Building Culture. David Chipperfield received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 2011. Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen. David Chipperfield has taught and lectured worldwide. He has been Professor of Architecture at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart, and Visiting Professor at several schools of architecture in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is an Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts London.