Niche was created by architect and designer Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. This modular centrepiece is made up of five elements that can be used separately to display chocolates and sweets in the kitchen or on a dining room table, or joined together to form a single object that can be placed on a desk to store small items. The Niche centrepiece is made from smooth, satin-finish black melamine, making the touch and visual appearance of the various elements extremely pleasing, whatever the configuration adopted. The dynamic beauty of this object invites us to play with the different containers according to our imagination.
In 1921, Giovanni Alessi founded the Italian company Alessi. Since 1929, the company has focussed on producing nickel- or silver-plated copper tableware. When Carlo Alessi, Giovanni's son, was appointed design director in 1935, handcrafting methods were replaced by industrial manufacturing. In 1955, the company began collaborating with world-renowned architects and designers such as Richard Sapper, Ettore Sottsass, and later, Philippe Starck and Marcel Wanders. Alessi makes design accessible by focussing on useful, humorous and visually appealing home accessories. Most of its products have become design classics that are sold and exhibited around the world.