Design a spoon

There are spoons and then there are spoons. In 1950 a book entitled The Silver Spoon, published by Editoriale Domus, left an indelible mark in cookbook publishing. Its success was immediate. Cooking enthusiasts made it their bible. Neophytes who could not cook learned to love cooking through its pages. Chefs kept the book close at hand. Future brides began to include it in their registry lists so that The Silver Spoon became, and still is, a classic wedding gift. In other words, a book to "marry". Its success was confirmed by the numbers: more than two million copies sold in Italy and more than one million worldwide; more than 12,000 recipes published; nine Italian editions and several reprints of each; translated into ten languages including Japanese. It was such a success that, over the years, its covers were designed by famous artists, from the unmistakable French-Italian René Gruau, one of the most brilliant 20-th-century designers and author of important and sophisticated advertising pages devoted to world-famous brands, to the silver cover by the Milanese designer Bruno Munari, one of the most acclaimed designers, to the current spoon "dreamed of" by Tullio Pericoli (from the Marches region) whose major exhibitions in Italy and abroad confirm his skill as a painter-designer and the delicate precision of his hand. It was also a success in its contents with the thousands of recipes published in accordance with editorial input; in its evolution in terms of continuity and balance of the relationship between tradition and innovation; in its transition from paper to digital archives in step with the times; in other words from traditional soups to siphoned vegetables. We could also say that it was a predictable success since the choice of the title was deliberately inspired by the 16th-century British saying: "Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth," coined at a time when to own a spoon, let alone a silver one, was a privilege above and beyond the anxiety of daily food provision. So in this third millennium, The Silver Spoon, with its "Design a Spoon" competition, wants to bring good luck to the finest of its participants and, on the established day, proclaim "the winner is...". Clelia d'Onofrio

Organised by Domus with Alessi, "Design a spoon" is an invited design competition for five international designers who will be asked to design a serving spoon. The jury, which will meet in late January, will include: Giovanna Mazzocchi, president of Editoriale Domus, Alessandro Mendini, editor of Domus, Alberto Alessi, president of Alessi, Joseph Grima, editorial director of Domus, and Clelia d'Onofrio, chief editor of The Silver Spoon. The award will be presented to the winner by Giovanna Mazzocchi and Alberto Alessi during an evening event that will be organized by Editoriale Domus in late April, coinciding with the volume's release. The competition will be announced and followed step by step by Domus, Domusweb and by the Cucchiaio d'Argento (The Silver Spoon) website.