analecta romana instituti danici xxxiv - Det Danske Institut i Rom

The Georg Jensen and Alessi Design 27ty but first and foremost is a tautology ofform, which makes you want to break it. 18Ito tries to break this order with his designversion of the floating towers that are splitup into nine versions of different sizes, creatingdiverging identities. A frog settles atthe top of a sugar bowl. On another tower,a tower for spoons, two frogs are movingat the lowest part of the cylindrical form. Afrog is rocking at the edge of a third tower.At the side, the saucers are piled, invitingthe user to take a saucer and stabilize the cupwhen it is used. However, the towers havedisappeared, but have not been destroyed,according to Baudrillard:Although they are smashed up they haveleft the impression of their absence. Everyonewho knows them cannot stop to imaginethem, the houses and their silhouettesagainst the sky, visible as they werefrom all parts of the city. Their end in thematerial space transfers them to a perfectlydeveloped imaginary space. Thanksto terrorism they have become the mostbeautiful global buildings, which they absolutelywere not while they existed. 19Ito points out a critical ‘view on towers’ ascultural power symbols. He may think thatin the twin towers, which have disappearedfrom reality, the balance had been disturbedbetween culture and nature. The frog canFig. 7. Toyo Ito, Tea and Coffee Towers 2003(photo: Alessi).hardly keep its balance at the edge of thecup. Water becomes dominant as a source ofinspiration for the design compared to theoriginal idea of using towers. The designtowers in a way sail about on an abstractwater lily and in that way become immaterialobjects. Through divergent expressions,Alessi’s designers create a different society,where dreams, feelings and stories play agreater part than rationality and reason. Away of thinking, which is shared by the twopsychoanalysts Francesco Fornari and D.W.Winnicott with whom Alessi cooperates.They maintain that our choices in life aremainly controlled by feelings and that we,as humans, need toys, which can make usremember the joy and confidence in childhood.Aldo Rossi (1939-97) is an example ofan Italian architect, designer and theorist