Super bowl: designers are throwing shapes in the pasta world

From the elaborate radiatori and campanelle to the minimal pici and fazzoletti, pasta shapes issue from every corner of Italy, and you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s little room left for invention.
However, it’s a challenge that has been embraced this year by a curious collective, which launched a new short-form pasta, Alma, during Milan Design Week earlier this year. Product designer Chiara Andreatti (W*225) and photographer Alice Schillaci, of Casalinghe di Tokyo (a product brand Schillaci conceived to celebrate the beauty of the everyday object), joined forces to come up with the look, while the manufacture has been a combined effort by two top pasta factories, Trafile Turconi and Baradello.
The curvy organic shape is described by the team as ‘female’ and was born, like many a project, while the two designers shared a pasta meal. Integral to the creation of Alma is the gesture used to eat it: an elbow planted on the table (‘indifferent to etiquette’), the pasta filling the mouth between chatter and laughter.
Made with Senatore Cappelli organic wheat, ancestor of the modern durum wheat, Alma is a true product of fresh design heads applied to old materials and craft.
A version of this article originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*244)
INFORMATION
chiaraandreatti.com; casalingheditokyo.com
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
The Richard Mille x Brough Superior RMB01 is a motorcycle with an exceptional aesthetic pedigree
The RMB01 is what happens when horological obsession meets two-wheeled excellence: a Franco-Swiss racing motorcycle that brings out the best in both brands
-
Six modern bathroom ideas for spaces big and small
Here are our best bathroom designs for 2026: colours, curves and a calming ambience are making a splash this season, with tactile and textured surfaces to elevate your shower room
-
The inimitable Norman Foster: our guide to the visionary architect, shaping the future
Norman Foster has shaped today's London and global architecture like no other in his field; explore his work through our ultimate guide to this most impactful contemporary architect
-
Milan’s Triennale Design Museum spills the beans on the art of food (and food of art)
-
Buccellati sets the table for conviviality at Milan Design Week 2022
Designers Dimorestudio, Ashley Hicks, Chahan Minassian and Patricia Urquiola create spectacular dinner table designs for Buccellati’s Milan Design Week exhibition, ’Il Galateo – a journey into conviviality’
-
We’re at the sharp end of sophisticated postprandial entertaining with our tool kit
-
In Milan, the Wallpaper* Handmade space offers new launches, exuberant bars and more
-
Eat, drink and shop your way round Milan during Salone with Picky Nicky
-
Dinner, drinks and disco: Salone del Mobile’s top entertainment installations
-
India Mahdavi creates a pink Parisian fantasy in Ladurée’s Tokyo tea salon
-
Artist’s Palate: Tokujin Yoshioka’s wagashi