Set 4 coffee cups (designed by Rufus Willis)

In his project Rufus Willis (Manchester, UK, 1978) reinterprets, from a contemporary point of view, the traditional English decors used for typical tea and coffee sets. The idyllic landscapes usually decorating English porcelain are in fact replaced by an urban reality showing the degradation caused by pollution, traffic and wars. The images force us to reflect through the contrast between the classic porcelain decorative technique and the contemporary world represented. Rufus Willis is a young London architect. This is the fourth project resulting from illy’s collaboration with the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella. The jury unanimously voted the proposal the best study for the illy collection, amongst those presented by the artists residing at Cittadellarte who each year conduct research on the social responsibility of art. Using art as a means to create awareness regarding social themes is one of the research areas of the Pistoletto Foundation.