Alessi have presented their 2017 Spring/Summer collection; highlighting the role of their research laboratory in the field of design. Continuing her popular collaborations with the brand—the 2003 Tea and Coffee Piazza, as well as the 2005 Crevasse Vase—Zaha Hadid partnered with Alessi again in 2015 to design the Forma Grater for their new collection.

Forma consists of a stainless steel grater, ergonomically designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and extremely easy to use. The mirror-polished grater is paired with a sculptural black stand inspired by the smoothly eroded forms found within nature.

Image © Alessandro Milani 

Alessi’s 2017 Spring/Summer Collection introduces a wide variety of projects including works of tabletop architecture and many exciting projects by new designers working with Alessi for the first time. 

Cementing its reputation as a company that nurtures young talent, the new collection once again highlights the role of Alessi’s research laboratory in the field of applied arts.

Image © Leonardo Scotti

A group of star architects and young designers illuminate this latest collection with designs from Sakura Adachi, Ben van Berkel/UNStudio, BGR (Manuela Busetti, Andrea Garuti and Matteo Redaelli), Michel Boucquillon and Donia Maaoui, Adam Cornish, Michele De Lucchi, Naoto Fukasawa, Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas, Stefano Giovannoni, Adam Goodrum, Frederic Gooris, Zaha Hadid, Giulio Iacchetti, Daniel Libeskind, Miriam Mirri, Gabriele Rosa, Valerio Sommella, Titus Wybenga. 

Image © Leonardo Scotti

Many of the items presented are crafted from stainless steel at Alessi’s factory in Crusinallo di Omegna. In addition to this material - which is undoubtedly the company’s specialty - the new collection also experiments with previously unexplored metals including titanium, as well as a welcome return to plastic.

Joining the new collection is the “Forma” Grater, the last product designed for Alessi by the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, before her death in March, 2016. Like many of her architectural works, the grater is inspired by natural forms that have been smoothed over time by water and by the wind. Consisting of two elements – a sculptural black base holding a mirror-polished stainless steel grater – ‘Forma’ has an ergonomic shape designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. 

Image © Mike De Pasquale

Extremely easy to handle, its metal surface also features a unique hole pattern. “Forma” perfectly represents the 2004 Pritzker Prize winner’s visionary design, which absorbed ideas from the visual arts and processed them into small, tabletop works of architecture.

Top image © Alessandro Milani 

> via Zaha Hadid Architects