This whistling kettle is one of the best-known kitchen items produced smack bang in the middle of the so-called “designer decade”; it’s a 1980s classic that has lived on.
Designed by American architect Michael Graves (1934-2015), one of the godfathers of postmodernism, it incorporates so much that gave that design movement such wide appeal. Put simply it’s fun – or if the idea of a fun kettle is a bit too much to take in – then at least it’s witty where strict modernism almost certainly never is.
The little red bird whistles when the water is boiled, its blue handle adds to its colourful appeal while its polished stainless steel gleams, the mirror finish signalling that this is a luxury statement product.
Blue became something of a signature colour for Graves – referencing architectural blueprints and was also what he called “a sea of calm”.
The bird, which has to be removed for pouring, can melt if it comes too close to a gas flame but as one of the only two moving parts in the design – the other being the lid with its chunky black knob – it can be replaced.
Graves, who as well as leading his own successful architecture practice, taught architecture at Princeton and worked with Memphis, the ground-breaking Italian design group influential in the 1980s. During his long career he designed about 2,000 products, his name becoming a well-known brand largely through his wide range of accessibly-priced household products for US chain Target.
It is not surprising that while giving him the gold medal in 2000, the American Institute of Architects noted that he had brought “quality designed products within reach of everyone in the country”.
The pricier Whistling Kettle became an instant best seller for Alessi, and remain so, even after all these years.
