Originally Published: 2008-02-24

An espresso machine for home use has not been typically thought of as a designer object, but that perception changed about a decade ago when Illy subsidiary Francis Francis introduced its X1 coffee maker, a functional and funky machine designed by Milan architect Luca Trazzi. The Italian coffee giant and the architect have continued to collaborate and the newest Francis Francis/Trazzi machines will be introduced in the spring.
The X1 caused a sensation in 1995, when its bold form first appeared. The Francis Francis machine was solid and well-built with inner workings such as brass boilers and bronze fittings, but what really distinguished Trazzi’s design was the playful, rounded shape of the machine’s metal housing and its availability in a bright palette of colours including red, orange, green, and deep and pale blue.
Francis Francis wanted to transform the home espresso machine from mere appliance to an object with an emotional connection to its user – a characteristic of many designs for the home – and though hardly an iPod-like marketing success, the Italian manufacturer and Trazzi succeeded in producing a remarkable design. More models followed and the newest designs set for a spring debut are the X7 and X8, machines that further refine home espresso making through the application of a new coffee extraction technology.
Trazzi, who apprenticed with legendary architect Aldo Rossi, is not the first Italian architect and designer to create an espresso machine design, however. In the late 1940s, modern Italian design patriarch Gio Ponti partnered with fellow architects Antonio Fornaroli and Alberto Rosselli to design the La Cornuta commercial espresso maker for Italian manufacturer La Pavoni. Its expressive form suggested a fascination for modern machinery. Late 1950s and early ‘60s commercial espresso machine designs included Enzo Mari and Bruno Munari’s Concorso series, also for La Pavoni, as well as the Castiglioni brothers’ Pitagora machine for La Cimbali and Marco Zanuso’s Z8 design for Milan–based manufacturer Rancilio.

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