'My factory is one hundred years old, but what interests me more than its age is its ability always to apply new ideas, to contribute new forms to the evolution of the domestic landscape.' - Alberto Alessi

Industrial Craftsmanship: the Alessi factory is something between a mass-production industry and a craftsman's workshop. Almost all the operations are done with machines but these machines are used with the spirit of the craftsman, not conditioned by the logic of the assembly line; they are readily used to bend to the expressive needs of the designer. - Alberto Alessi

Art: I have always considered design to be a creative discipline with an artistic and poetic input. It brings a touch of transcendence to our consumer society, to distinguish between function and emotion, and to provoke surprise while touching our souls with beautiful objects. - Alberto Alessi.

Paradox: From the Greek "para-dóksa", is generically something that surprises us thanks to the way it runs counter to everyday logic, giving a new slant to common opinion and daily experience, and this makes this thing extraordinary or at least bizarre. In Alessi, we have often made use of this literary notion to help us reach beyond the apparently common-place nature of everyday objects". - Alberto Alessi

Beyond: or the quest to go one step further and yet another. Not just for the fact of doing so, but for the sake of doing something different. But in an attempt to evolve our way of working and our world of objects. So, avoid sitting on the comfortable laurels of routine and reiterate practice.

Hybridisation: mixing of different cultures and disciplines. One of Alessi’s typical characteristics is that of seeking to combine the culture of design with industrial culture. The process is not an easy one, requiring constant application in the mediation between poetry and the market, leading towards what might appear to be a compromise but is in actual fact a little masterpiece of design.

Research Lab: I consider Alessi to be an industrial research laboratory dedicated to a continuous mediation between the immensity of creative possibilities and the needs - or rather the dreams - of people. Hundreds of the most stimulating designers of the various eras have worked with us. Their work is documented and preserved in our museum.

Irony: people often ask me why irony as a rhetorical notion is often to be found in our products. I do not really know how to answer precisely, for in actual fact the use of this notion is very much linked to the characteristics of the various designers, and probably responds to the attempt we make not to take ourselves too seriously, to lighten up our daily lives. - Alberto Alessi

Borderline: The thin line between the possible and the non-possible. In the case of design, it demarcates the border between a project that will be understood, loved and desired by the public and another that the public will not succeed in understanding and therefore adopt. This line is not clearly marked out; it is not visible with market research. It can only be guessed by making careful use of our sensitivity and accepting that a few risks need to be taken. Working on the borderline is the destiny of an Italian design factory, like Alessi: we explore the line of what is possible and try each time to go beyond it, or rather to push the line back a little further. This is our idea of progress and our contribution to the evolution of consumer society. - Alberto Alessi

Poetry: To be a good designer, you must first be a poet. Poetry - from the Greek "poiesis" - means creation. The objective of a designer is to create something that makes us look at ourselves from within and raise ourselves a little above the level of material existence; in short, to live our lives really to the full. - Alberto Alessi.

Thingness: Understood as the ability to tap the deep essence of an object, its true raison d’être - which is a constant prerogative of the best design projects -. We can say that an object attains its ‘thingness’ when it represents and synthesises that given gesture or operation for which it has been conceived and designed; in other words, it takes on a symbolic value and becomes an archetype of its category. How difficult this is to achieve!

Transgression: rules are needed, of course! But accepting a system of rules also risks creating a static view of the world and - in the case of this industry - can interfere with development. Acceptance of the risk linked to the transgression of existing rules is a constant in Italian design. I believe that a light-handed touch of "transgression" in conventional rules of design, marketing or aesthetics, can be desirable to ensure true product innovation. - Alberto Alessi

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