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Goodbye, immortal design
This is the end for Bialetti — an immortal design that outlived and buried (literally) its owner.
In 2016, a funeral was held in a Catholic church in the small village of Montebuglio, Italy. It was attended by more than 200 people, as the man who had died was deeply loved and had a large family (very Italian of him).
However, one wish of the deceased about his funeral turned what would normally have been a private, personal ceremony into a worldwide sensation.
The man who passed away was Renato Bialetti, and he requested to place his ashes inside the product that defined his life: a Moka pot.
In the age of capsule coffee, the Bialetti Moka pot — also known as the Moka Express — may be something your kids have never heard of. Yet, you, your parents, or really likely your grandparents, have one tucked away in the kitchen.
It has just one purpose. To brew coffee.
To me, Bialetti is the Holy Grail of product design. The Moka pot design is immortal, and I believe Renato Bialetti chose to have his ashes placed in it as a way to share its immortality. This simple coffee maker offers UX and product designers a wealth of lessons. What a case study — almost 100 years old and a legend.
The design thinking behind its shape is extraordinarily straightforward and groundbreaking at the same time. I’ll explain every detail — the material, the shape, the safety valve, the Mustache-Man mascot —and how it came together into something so recognizable and long-lasting.
What is the secret to immortal design? I might just have an answer.
There is still time to tell the story. But not much.
The immortal legend is passing. The design will endure, but the original will be no more. Someone should probably write a novel about how, in 500 years, a noble knight, a survivor of a post-apocalyptic world, goes on a search for the Holy Grail, which turns out to be in the shape of Bialetti’s Moka Express.
