The Melodious Legacy of Richard Sapper

Photo by Jonathan Olivares

Alessi is an Italian designer firm founded in 1921 which stands out for its active engagement  and collaboration with artists. Indeed, the aim of the company is not just creating products that are merely functional or appealing to the eye, but it strives to offer something that sparks emotions in its customers. One of the clearest examples of their philosophy is the Kettle 9091 conceived by German industrial designer Richard Sapper in 1982. What makes this piece so unique is the melodious sound it makes when the water boils: high temperatures make it replicate the exact same sound Sapper heard coming from the steamboats on the Rhine river as a kid.

The realisation of the kettle took Sapper and the Alessi team a long time as he was determined to reproduce the precise sound of the sirens of the boats. After several years marked by failures, a visit to the workshop of a craftsman in the Black Forest in Germany yielded the sought after sound, and a perfect combination of musical notes became the soundtrack of many tea breaks off design aficionados.  

Without idolising this object, it is important to realise that it embodies the essence and the concept championed and brought forward by Alessi. The process of research undertaken by Sapper aimed at reminiscing the past as a way to keep in touch with the innermost part of himself, and let customers experience something new. 

“Keeping the spirit of childhood within yourself for a lifetime means preserving the curiosity”

— Bruno Munari

What is striking is the way in which a childhood memory was preserved through the years and then channeled through it– in Baudelaire’s words genius is “childhood equipped now with man’s physical means to express itself, and with the analytical mind that enables it to bring order into the sum of experience, involuntarily amassed”. Along the same lines, artist Bruno Munari said that “keeping the spirit of childhood within yourself for a lifetime means preserving the curiosity”. Sapper managed to preserve his curiosity and shaped it into something special. The relationship this sound created with is past gave life to a multisensorial kettle with most importantly a poetical and emotional function, as emphasised by Alberto Alessi, who has been representative of the company since 1970. 

Sapper’s most renowned products also include Tizio lamp realised in collaboration with Artemide, which he referred to as “his opinion” on how a lamp to be used during work time should be. Tizio is an extremely extendable object which emanates a light that conciliates focusing and has a small bulb with dimensions that  allow customers to bend to look more closely at their work. Another iconic product by Sapper is Escargot for Terraillon, a cooking timer which shows the passing of time and recoils back into its original resting snail shape at the end. 

The sensitivity and acumen showed by Sapper in the numerous object he produced led him to receive eleven "Compasso d’oro” , the most revered award in the design industry. His legacy now manifests in the most renowned art museums around the world and is cherished by design enthusiasts in their houses.