WITH EVEN THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY

NEW DESIGN, EVERY KITCHEN EMBODIES

ANCIENT CONCEPTS, A MEETING PLACE

FOR THE FOUR PRIMA RY ELEMENTS — AIR,

EARTH, FIRE, WATER — AND A FIFTH,

QUINTESSENTIAL ELE MENT: DESIGN.

INTRO

CASE 5.0

BECOMING

BOFFI

6

INTRO

CASE 5.0

BECOMING

BOFFI

7

AT THE HEART OF BOFFI’S APPROACH TO DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING IS A WORD THAT, APPROPRIATELY, CONTAINS MORE THAN

ONE MEANING. IN ENGLISH, BECOMING CAN BE A PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPT, OWING A DEBT TO HERACLITUS — WHO NEVER

STEPPED IN THE SAME RIVER TWICE — AND DENOTING THE “STATE OF BECOMING,” A PROGRESSIVE, TRIAL AND ERROR PROCESS

OF CHANGE, FAILURE, AND SUCCESS. SAMUEL BECKETT’S MANTRA WAS “TRY AGAIN, FAIL AGAIN, FAIL BETTER.” IN EACH

ITERATION OF BECOMING, BOFFI AND LISSONI HAVE WORKED TOGETHER TO REFINE AND PERFECT. SECONDARILY, BECOMING ALSO

MEANS SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, FLATTERING, AND IDEALLY SUITED TO THE PERSON WHO OWNS OR USES IT. THAT PROCESS

OF “BECOMING” LED TO CASE 5.0 — EMINENTLY USABLE AND PERFECTLY MATCHED WITH THE DESIRES OF THOSE WHO COOK AND

SOCIALIZE IN AND WITH IT.

CREATORS OF KITCHENS HAVE ALWAYS WORKED TO BALANCE THE DELIGHT AND ADVENTURE OF COOKING WITH THE CONVENIENCE

AND EFFICIENCY OFFERED BY TECHNOLOGY. BUT THE FORMULA STILL ENCOMPASSES CRUCIAL MATERIALS AND FUNDAMENTAL

TECHNIQUES. A THEORY OF ELEMENTS NEARLY AS OLD AS THE VERY FIRST OUTDOOR KITCHEN DESCRIBES JUST FOUR ESSENTIAL

COMPONENTS: AIR, EARTH, FIRE, AND WATER. THESE FOUR ELEMENTS ARE THE SOUL OF ANY KITCHEN, AND THEY MERGE

AND SHAPE BOTH THE ACT OF COOKING AND THE PROCESS OF DESIGN.

SOME MIGHT ADD A QUINTESSENCE, A FIFTH ELEMENT: THOUGHTFUL, PERCEPTIVE DESIGN. BOFFI UNITES ALL FIVE OF THOSE

ELEMENTS IN CASE 5.0.

THE 5.0 CM THICKNESS OF THE CASE 5.0 CABINET DOORS — ENCLOSING THE NATURAL WALNUT WOOD DRAWERS —

INCORPORATES AN 8 MM SECTION THAT FRAMES IT, BECOMING ITS HANDLE. THE THICKNESS AND MASS OF THE DOORS ENDOW

IT WITH A SPECIAL TACTILE SENSE OF SOLIDITY. THE HANDLE STRIPS WITH THE SAME FINISH AS THE BASE CABINETS REINFORCE

THE UNITS’ CONTINUITY. THE CABINETS FEATURE PULL-OUT DOORS, NOT HINGED, AND 9 CM SIDE SUPPORT PANELS.

THE COUNTERTOP IS RELATIVELY THIN — 1.2 TO 2 CM — ESTABLISHING A CONTRAST WITH THE MUCH THICKER CABINET DOORS.

THIS YEAR, NEW FEATURES ARE BEING INTRODUCED: CANTILEVERED KITCHEN PENINSULAS EXTENDING UP TO 180 CM AND

NEW MATERIALS FOR DOORS AND COUNTERTOPS SUCH AS MDI BY INALCO WITH NEW AND EXCLUSIVE COLORS, LOST WOODS,

AND SUCH ABSOLUTE NOVELTIES — SELECTED BY PIERO LISSONI — AS EASY METALS AND GLOSSY POLYESTERS. LAST BUT

CERTAINLY NOT LEAST: INSIDE SYSTEM TRACKS, EQUIPPED TRACKS INTEGRATED INTO THE COUNTERTOPS OFFERING CUTLERY AND

UTENSIL TRAYS AND HOLDERS FOR KNIVES, SPICES, CUTTING BOARDS, AND OIL BOTTLES.

WHEN PIERO LISSONI DESIGNED CASE 5.0 IN 2002, HE MADE A POINT OF PRESENTING IT TO THE PUBLIC AT THE CAPRONI

INDUSTRIAL SHED OUTSIDE MILAN. HERE A LONG-FORGOTTEN MASTER DESIGNER AND AVIATION PIONEER NAMED GIANNI CAPRONI

HAD PRODUCED GENERATIONS OF AIRPLANES — CLASSICS IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN. THIS WAS AN UNUSUAL

WAY TO ANNOUNCE A NEW APPROACH TO KITCHENS, BUT IT WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME, LIKE EVERYTHING THAT BEARS THE BOFFI

AND LISSONI NAMES.

KITCHENS AND AIRPLANES BOTH EMBODY HUMANITY’S OLDEST AND MOST CHERISHED DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS. CASE BRINGS

ADVANCED DESIGN AND IMPECCABLE TASTE TO THE CHALLENGE AND DELIGHT OF COOKING. THE SURFACES AND SPACES

ARE CALIBRATED TO MAKE THE EXPERIENCE OF COOKING AS NATURAL AND YET EFFICIENT AS A DREAM, A PLACE WHERE FOOD

CONJURES UP BOTH THE COMFORT OF PRIVACY — WHEN EATING IN CLOSE COMPANY — AND THE JOYS OF CONVIVIALITY —

WHEN ENTERTAINING FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES.

THE TWENTY YEARS BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION OF CASE 5.0 AND THE NEW ITERATION OF CASE 5.0 HAVE BEEN

A TIME OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND DESIGN ADVANCES, BUT ALSO A TIME IN WHICH BOFFI AND LISSONI HAVE STUDIED AND LISTENED

TO THE CONSUMER.

WHEN DESIGN PROCESS CREATES A KITCHEN, WE CAN LOOK AT THAT BECOMING IN SURFACE TERMS. THE DESIGN AND

ENGINEERING SHAPES A “PERSONA,” A WORD THAT COMES FROM THE ANCIENT ACTOR’S MASK. THE COUNTERS, THE CABINETS,

AND THE OTHER CRUCIAL NODES — STOVE, REFRIGERATOR, SINK, AND SO ON — ARE STAGE SETTINGS FOR A DOMESTIC

THEATER OF COOKING, BUT ALSO AN INTERFACE LINKING THE DEEPER KNOWLEDGE AND TRADITIONS OF CUISINE WITH THE DAILY

LIFE THAT FLOWS THROUGH ANY AND EVERY KITCHEN — A “DESIRE LINE” THAT SHAPES THE DESIGN AND PRACTICE OF

COOKING AND ENTERTAINING.

DESIGN, LIKE COOKING, IS A PROCESS OF BECOMING.

PICTURE THIS: A STACKED LAYERING OF MEDIA, A ROUGH, HAND-SKETCHED CONCEPTUAL, THEN LAYERED, TRANSLUCENT ABOVE

IT, A FORMAL, FINE-LINED RENDERING, ON TOP OF THAT, GHOSTLY BUT CLEAR, A SCHEMATIC WITH MANUFACTURING

INSTRUCTIONS, FLOATING EVANESCENT TO ONE SIDE, A SAMPLE BOARD OF MATERIALS, WOOD, METAL, COMPOSITES, AND THEN,

AT THE APEX OF THE VISUALIZED CONSTRUCTION PROCESS, A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FINISHED KITCHEN CABINETRY, CASE 5.0.

GOOD KITCHEN DESIGN DOMESTICATES THE ANCIENT RITUAL AND ALCHEMY OF COOKING, THE MYSTERIOUS PROCESS THAT

SHAPES THE MAGNETIC CENTER OF OUR HOMES. IN ITALIAN, THE SAME WORD, “CUCINA,” DESCRIBES BOTH THE PROCESS

OF COOKING — CUISINE — AND THE PLACE WHERE IT IS DONE — KITCHEN. THE MATERIAL ELEMENTS OF EARTH, PRESENT IN STONE,

CERAMICS, METAL, COMBINE WITH FIRE, WATER, AND AIR AND DESIGN, THE QUINTESSENTIAL FIFTH ELEMENT, THE SPARK

THAT LIGHTS THE FLAME: FINE AND THOUGHTFUL DESIGN.