Beyond the art of making a good cup of coffee, there’s actually the art of making a good cup to put it in. I was exploring (ok, strolling around) the Brunswick Centre collecting some photos and impressions for a little series I’d like to share with you about this part of town, and I chanced upon this amazing construction.
Yes, it’s an installation of designer espresso cups. Really.
It was quite lovely, even if it did take up half the restaurant it was in. I’d be happy to share the name of the restaurant so you could go and see it for yourself – it’s well worth it – but when I returned a couple of days later to shoot it with a different lens, I found it gone, so it was clearly a temporary installation. Carpe diem, hodie adsit cras, and all that.
I think it was to celebrate Illy’s 75th birthday. Their main celebrations will be in Trieste, where their Hungarian founder made his home, but there are clearly bits and pieces going on here in London (and in Venice and Berlin, I now learn). My moles tell me that while Lavazza, Segafredo and other Italian coffee companies keep the best stuff for the home market and sell us the rest, Illy’s coffee is the same wherever you drink it. True? Hard to judge with all the other variables such as regional water, choice of milk, capability of barristas, but it does seem to be fairly consistent.
Anyway, back to the cups. They’ve had various artists over the years design cups for them, and this installation is testament to that. Some of these editions can be pretty pricey – I was put off buying a recent release by the heat – but if you can indulge, they do actually rise in value as soon as each edition is discontinued. In fact, the first set, designed by Matteo Thun back in ’91 now sell for over $4000… Yeah, I know; but come on, what could be better than art that wakes you up every day?
PS - I'll buy you an Illy coffee in Bloomsbury if you can guess who designed the 'Alien' cup!
Hey there I am so thrilled I found your blog page, I really found you by accident, while I was searching on Askjeeve for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a incredible post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don't have time to go through it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the excellent work.
Posted by: green coffee extract | 11/25/2013 at 05:11 PM
I always emailed this webpage post page to all my friends, for the reason that if like to read it then my friends will too. Clash of Clans Hack
Posted by: clash of Clans hack | 11/26/2013 at 12:18 PM