I had the pleasure of collaborating with De’Longhi on the project “The Smallest Coffee Shop in the World”, presented at Milan Design Week 2026.
Together with master miniaturist Simon Weisse, De’Longhi “shrunk” a series of iconic coffee shops, perfectly condensing the professionalism and atmosphere of a bar onto your kitchen countertop.
A project that portrays coffee as an itinerant and cultural experience. Five machines and five cups, each inspired by a city around the world.
The five cities that guided the concept are:
Milan, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Paris.
For each of these, I designed a ceramic cup intended as a material translation of the place's identity and its way of experiencing the coffee ritual, striving to blend my style with that of De' Longhi:
– Milan: essential and graphic, as direct as the act of drinking espresso at the counter, where everything is rhythm and precision
– Tokyo: minimal and silent, with an almost meditative balance between form and void
– Copenhagen: soft and tactile, inspired by Nordic slow living and a discreet, functional beauty
– Berlin: more textural and structural, with a solid and contemporary presence, essential yet intense
– Paris: elegant and fluid, with light lines that evoke the daily act of drinking coffee in the city's historic cafés
It was a great honor for me to become, even if only in a small part, a part of the history of a company like De'Longhi. Contributing to a project that intertwines design, coffee culture, and contemporary imagination meant transforming an everyday gesture into a broader experience: a small journey through cities, atmospheres, and suggestions from different parts of the world.
