Richard Sapper

Born in Munich in 1932, he studied philosophy, anatomy, graphics, engineering and economics. Ten times winner of the Compassi d'Oro, his prime interest is the design of technically complex objects, from ships to watches. His first project for Alessi was the Alessi Expresso Coffee Maker, 9090 which won the XIth Crusinallo d'Oro and is displayed in New York's Museum of Modern Art. The Alessi Sapper Kettle has perfectly tuned pitch pipes in E and B, which produce a pleasant clear sound when the water boils. Richard Sapper's versatile design abilities is shown to full affect in the Alessi Expresso Machines and ground breaking Multi-ply Sapper pans.

What Alessi say about Sapper:
Richard first came to Crusinallo on Shrove Tuesday, 1977. Ettore Sottsass recommended him in these terms: He's the Tizio lamp guy, the guy who has never done a bad design. Dad, Uncle Ettore and I greeted him. He was dressed all in black and wearing a bizarre piper's hat. Sapper usually works on just a few designs at a time, only things that really interest him; it's hard to force him into a narrow brief: far better to give him free reign, at a rate of roughly one new project every five years. Sapper is also the man behind the most complex project I have ever worked on: the Cintura di Orione range of cooking utensils, made possible thanks to Professor Alberto Gozzi's fundamental help and designed to accommodate the suggestions of several famous French and Italian chefs and experts in European cookery. The research project, begun in 1979 - now available in a historical volume - was dedicated to a group that, until then, had been somewhat neglected by the market: "private gourmets", people with a passion for inventive and creative cookery."