ECAL x alessi

‘spettro’ by matthieu girel is a flying saucer that magnetically captures paperclips photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

during milan design week 2011, ECAL / university of art and design lausanne presents an exhibition of products produced in collaboration with italian design brand alessi. the objects have been designed by second-year students in the industrial design bachelor program as a result of a workshop directed by elric petit, head of the department. at the beginning of the project, the company’s president, alberto alessi, explained his ‘formula’ for which all alessi products follow: combining the chemistry between the emotional elements, functionaly, communication, price and industrial technology of a design.

the students have conceived a series of new desk and office objects for alessi, considering the working space as a friendly and welcoming environments, developing tools to provide joy to their users.

‘A4’ by marie douel is a basket can be gradually built up with sheets of paper photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘this small exhibition showcases the projects that the students of ECAL in lausanne developed for us during a workshop in the autumn/winter of 2010. for over twenty years we have dedicated part of our activities to joint projects with international design schools and universities. these are moments of great exchange where we try to offer the benefits of decades of experience, receiving new energies and innovative interpretations of the material world in return. the projects revolve around the theme of the office and the home study: a product area that we have rarely tackled and, as such, an interesting opportunity for us to enrich the ‘alessi encyclopaedia’. in recent months we have seen a series of very precise and varied proposals take shape, each responding to the same necessity of upgrading the classic work space by trying to make it more domestic, friendly and personal.

the result is a collection of single items connected not by form, but rather by their overall design harmony where innovation, as is often the case in the world of design, is gradually revealed through small but telling gestures. we are talking about naturally versatile objects that are suitable for use in real offices or to complete areas of the home. I am amazed by how much enthusiasm and depth was given to analyse the single functions, by the freshness of expression in all proposals and the pleasant quest for simplicity in some of these. I believe that these excellent results cannot only depend on the talent of each student but also on the competent and concrete learning method adopted. our work together does not end here: we still have to examine certain themes that require more time to evolve, as I hope some of these concepts will develop into authentic products. this is the best result anyone could expect from a workshop.’ – alberto alessi

marie douel’s ‘A4′ basket and matthieu pache’s ’45 degrees’ image © designboom

‘graffetta’ by marie-anne le corre is a wall-hanger which is influenced by paperclips. letters or keys can also be slid on to it. photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘ora’ by isaure bouyssonie is a clock mobile that suspends time photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘erbario’ by diane bayard and christophe guberan is an ensemble of six bookmarks based on the aesthetics of leaves, in a herbarium notebook holder photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘volta’ by laure gremion is graphically based on the movement of the second hand, which is multiplied by sixty and makes the passing of time pleasantly visible image © designboom

detail of ‘volta’ image © designboom

‘filo’ by marie schenker is an elegant minimalist sticky-tape dispenser made from a simple steel wire photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘filo’ by marie schenker image © designboom

‘frana’ by christophe guberan is a collection of containers that slide with a simple gesture to reveal or hide the objects they hold photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘saros’ by manon briod displays a new pattern every second due to its water-ripple effect photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘pennello’ by blandine gay allows documents to be easily affixed around the mirror due to a brush-bristle system photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz

‘ciambella’ by carlo clopath is a holder consisting of two separate elements based on a cake mould typology photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz ‘stadium’ by raphaël nessim is a storage system consisting of three versatile elements to create diverse storage spaces photo ECAL/julien chavaillaz