Bacha Coffee brews a design update with Italian brand Alessi

Bacha Coffee from Marrakech recently announced that it has launched its Bacha Coffee x Alessi La Conica espresso pot at its outlets in Singapore, online and globally.

A collaboration with Italian homeware brand Alessi, the sleek, almost sculptural design is an update of the 1984 original.

The new pot, which costs $450 and can brew three cups at one go, is fashioned out of stainless steel with a copper bottom and a specially designed handle coated in gold through a process unique to the Bacha Coffee collectible.

Coffee made in an espresso pot tastes robust and smooth, as the high temperatures of the boiling water work to coax the flavour out of the coffee beans.

Alessi’s original La Conica espresso pot was designed by Aldo Rossi, the acclaimed late architect and the first Italian recipient of the Pritzker Prize – considered the Nobel Prize of architecture – in 1990.

Luxury brand Bacha Coffee was founded in Marrakech, Morocco, in 1910 at the Dar el Bacha palace, which means “House of the Pasha”. The word pasha referred to governors, generals or dignitaries in the Turkish Ottoman empire.

Bacha Coffee makes use of 200 varieties of coffee beans sourced from more than 30 reputable coffee-producing regions, such as Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Central and South America. The brand’s Ion Orchard shop also offers a number of services, including gift-wrapping with personalised gift cards and ribbons.

Info: For a list of Bacha Coffee outlets here and to check out its online store, go to bachacoffee.com

Home-grown tableware brand Luzerne celebrates 75 years

Singapore tableware manufacturer Luzerne celebrates its 75th anniversary this month with the launch of its flagship gallery, retail outlet and global corporate office called The Luzerne in Bendemeer Road.

The 1,200 sq m family-owned building houses The Gallery, which showcases more than 3,000 pieces from 40 collections; The Shop, the brand’s first retail outlet here; and The Residence, its headquarters in Singapore.

With a global presence in more than 55 countries, the company has five offices – in Singapore and Cambodia, as well as Shanghai, Xiamen and Dehua in China – and more than 800 craftsmen and employees.

Luzerne won a Red Dot Award in 2020 for its tableware and also bagged a prize in 2019 at the Tableware Awards of Excellence in Germany.

The brand traces its roots to 1947 when its founder, the late Lek Song Cheng – a Chinese immigrant from Teo Ann in Guangzhou province – came to Singapore to set up a pottery-trading shop. The family business, initially called Hiap Huat Holdings, quickly established a name for itself as a high-quality supplier of ceramics and tableware for the local hospitality industry.

In 1993, Hiap Huat Holdings bought a factory in one of China’s well-known porcelain-making provinces in Dehua, regarded as the birthplace of Blanc de Chine, or white porcelain, paving the way for the birth of Luzerne in 2004.

Info: Visit the showroom and shop at The Luzerne at 70 Bendemeer Road. Prices range from $3.50 for a white rice bowl to $121 for a gold-speckled dinner plate. Go to luzerne.com

New Metaverse Architecture and Design Awards aimed at next-gen designs

A new international competition claims to be the first awards programme for the architecture and design industry that recognises projects and products designed for the metaverse.

The 2023 Metaverse Architecture and Design Awards is aimed at creatives who push the limits of design and architecture emerging technologies in Web 3.0 and the metaverse.

Web 3.0, or Web3, is the latest iteration of the Internet. It includes 5G, digital realms such as augmented reality and the development of the metaverse.

The competition is jointly organised by New York-based Interior Design Magazine and digby, a digital technology and retail consulting firm co-founded by Toronto-based entrepreneurs Tessa Bain and Andrew Lane.

Mr Lane says that after connecting with designers, manufacturers and builders, he and Ms Bain found important early work being done in the metaverse, and believed that it needed a platform where it could be shared and celebrated.

Adds Ms Bain: “From there, it was only natural for us to partner with Interior Design magazine, which has a long track record of pushing the industry forward, to create this new offering to highlight the exciting creative work being developed outside the physical world.”

Info: Early-bird submissions started on Monday. The deadline is Dec 21. Submissions are priced at US$250 (S$350) for the early-bird category and $299 for regular entries. Finalists will be notified in February next year. Go to str.sg/wjZY