Based in Trieste, Italy, illycaffe produces and markets a unique blend of espresso coffee under a single brand. Illycaffe has been a worldwide leader in premium specialty coffees since 1933 and delights coffee lovers at more than 50,000 finer cafes, restaurants, coffee bars, hotels and retailers around the world every day.
CURATORIAL PROJECT:
The Cup Of Sense
An enormous two-story cup of illy will be placed in front of major artistic and cultural museums in the US and Europe. Inside the Cup will be The 5 Senses Gallery and a lounge bar. Hearing, Sight, Taste, Touch, Smell, will be evoked by the artists, who are free to explore the five senses, stimulating and celebrating these as they exist all over the Earth.
This will be a pleasurable experience for all who come to visit. The cup will be a moveable structure that can be rebuilt and transported to different cities. It will be an original piece of architecture, with the inside walls brown as the color of coffee. The ceiling will be semi transparent, allowing a view of the sky. The artificial light will be constantly changing above, giving the perception that you are under water. The outside of the building will look like Illy espresso cup – white with the red box containing the Illy logo. Artists will be invited to design the outside of the structure, just as they do with the existing Illy Collection cups.
A sensorial sign placed around the area of the installation will draw people with the smell and sound of coffee percolating, engaging the natural senses of the people that pass by.
