Illy collaborated with artist/architect Adam Kalkin to create a dramatic work of living art — the illy Push Button House, a five-room home with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library constructed within a standard industrial shipping container.
The home, which transforms at the push of a button, is created from recycled and recyclable materials and is the physical representation of illy’s dedication to sustainability, art and innovation.
Guests to Push Button House had the opportunity to sample the world’s finest coffee using illy’s new iperEspresso system, participate in coffee classes, view dance and performance art and listen to caffè conversations.
The Push Button House debuted at the esteemed Venice Biennale in June 2007. In December 2007, Push Button House was exhibited in New York City where it welcomed holiday shoppers at the Time Warner Center. As part of the New York Wine & Food Festival, Push Button House again took center stage in the Meatpacking District in October 2008.
Both pragmatic and environmentally friendly, illy Push Button House is created from recycled and recyclable materials and embodies illy’s message of sustainability and its connection to beauty through art and design. From the tin to the taste buds, illy relentlessly strives to turn the coffee drinking experience into one that is also unique, innovative and artful— and the illy Push Button House demonstrates the creative efforts illy employs to reinforce this vision.