In 1985, Richard-Ginori turned to nine masters of Italian design to create prototypes for the tableware of the future. Among them was the Milanese architect Aldo Rossi, who, among other things, took on the creation of a pitcher and three containers with lids. The prototypes conceived by Rossi on this occasion reflect some of the stylistic features of his architectural thinking, foremost among them the use of simple geometric shapes, such as the cube, cone, sphere, and cylinder, which combine and vary to bring the objects to life.
The pitcher consists of the merging of two profiles that intersect in a directional contrast of simple lines. The vertical development of the truncated conical body is interrupted and contrasted by the spout, which fits into the initial shape and, together with the hollow silhouette of the handle, completes the fusion between the two primary triangular forms.
The containers with lids are spheres, their surfaces interrupted only by the joint line between lid and body. The knobs echo the dominant shape on a smaller scale, while the side handles are simple elements functional to practical usability.
Rossi’s creations for Richard-Ginori are part of a creative journey through industrial design that, during the same years, had led him to the design of products for the brand Alessi. Some impressions already present in the prototypes at the Ginori Museum culminated in 1994 in the design of soup tureens for the “Il Faro” line for the Rosenthal brand.
