The Espressovator
Contest yields winning coffee shop imaginings
Illy Cafe teamed up with Domus magazine in April 2004, asking students and designers under the age of 35 to create new ways of enjoying coffee (“create a place for meeting, discovery and encounter”). Over the course of 10 months, 704 entries were received, roughly half coming from outside Italy. The best 14 projects were exhibited in Milan this month.
The winning concept is an escalator which functions both as a coffee machine and an art show. Coffee is served at the bottom of an escalator. On the way up, customers sip their coffee and enjoy a brief art exhibition. At the top of the escalator, they throw their plastic cup into a recycling machine that instantly molds it into a ticket for an art exhibition or show.
BUT — my favorite is the “Illyvator” by designer Bryan Boyer. He’s a truly elevated coffee to a whole new level (wokka-wokka!)
