Rome’s streets are filled with souvenir stores, streetside souvenir stands, and roving souvenir salesmen. It seems that every visitor to the Eterna is out there searching for the perfect thing to take home - something that will remind them of the glories of their Roman holiday once they’re back in the daily routine. Papal bottle openers are a cheap but ever-popular choice, while hot priest calendars are flying off the shelves and visitors are clamoring for the witty Rome t-shirts sold on line at the iDC City Shop.
But what about those people who are looking for something new and different? That’s the question that was posed to 23 international artists in 2005 when Casa da Arbitare and Alessi sponsored the ‘Souvenir d’Italie’ exhibit during the Milan Furniture Fair.
French designer Inga Sempe came up with these booty-licious kitchen implements, which, unfortunately are prototypes and have never hit the markets.
Sempe, a designer living in Paris, spent 2000-2001 in Rome as a fellow at the Villa Medici, Academie de France a Rome. In 2000 she opened her studio in Paris and has since won several design awards, including the Grand Prix de la Creation en design de la Ville de Paris in 2003. She often collaborates with Cappellini, Edra, Ligne Roset, Baccarat, and Pallucco.
Dutch product designer Chris Kabel’s created a Colosseum-shaped tube pan. The souvenir tube pan comes with a porcelain plate on which to present the freshly baked Coliseum cake to dinner guests, who, as they eat the cake, reveal the plan of the building on the plate.
For a perfect white Colosseum (unlike the dirty one currently standing in Rome) a low yeast bread recipe works wonders. For a more transparent appearance, Jello is the way to go. But for the most authentic and contemporary look, the product designer himself suggests a recipe for mocha sponge cake.
Both Sempe and Kabel’s souvenir designs are part of Museo Alessi’s collection.
(Does anyone know if the Souvenir d’Italie exhibit was published and/or documented on a website? We’d love to see all the products produced, but can’t find them online or in bookstores. If you know where we can see more, please drop us a comment. Thanks!)
Inga Sempe kitchenwares via tastespotting and style-files.com.
