Alessi — 9090/3 | Richard Sapper stainless steel espresso maker

There is something inevitable about the form of the 9090/3: a presence on the stovetop that needs no introduction. Made of mirror-polished 18/10 stainless steel, with a magnetic steel base compatible with induction cooktops, this three-cup coffee maker condenses into eleven centimeters in diameter and seventeen and a half centimeters in height everything espresso coffee deserves - precision, warmth, silence before boiling. Richard Sapper designed it in 1979, and that year marked a before and after in the history of Italian coffee design. Sapper - the same designer of the Tizio lamp for Artemide and the first ThinkPad for IBM - brought a radically engineering-driven vision of everyday life to Alessi: no rhetoric, no ornament. The 9090 was the first kitchen object to enter the permanent collection of MoMA in New York. An unsurprising recognition: it is a piece that thinks. We at Stilmobili chose it because it perfectly represents the boundary where design stops being decoration and becomes an act. It is the ideal gift for those who live mindfully, for coffee enthusiasts who make no aesthetic compromises, and for those who recognize in an everyday object the same quality of thought they bring to the books they choose or the paintings they hang. It works on all types of cooktops, lasts a lifetime, and improves over time. Design notes: 18/10 stainless steel, magnetic induction-compatible base, 15 cl capacity, three espresso cups, 11 cm diameter, 17.5 cm height. Designed by Richard Sapper, 1979. MoMA permanent collection, New York.