David Berge Bialetti

An artist's imaginary catalog for the iconic stovetop coffee-maker

In this singular volume, Belgian artist David Berge constructs an imagined catalog for the ubiquitous commercial Italian firm Bialetti. After humble beginnings in the workshops of three brothers in northern Italy, the Bialetti company, under Alfonso Bialetti's son Renato, industrialized the production of their aluminum stovetop coffee-makers and sold over 300 million units worldwide. Producing variants of his product to beat competitors, the controversial entrepreneur never kept records, prototypes or archives. In this void, Berge began gathering Bialettis from flea markets and flagship stores. This book is Berge's proposal of what a Bialetti catalog might look like. It provides insights into the production process of a beloved piece of precision engineering, nourished by the voices of Bialetti family members, as well as former factory workers, secretaries and union representatives.