Press release
ILLY PUSH BUTTON HOUSE: A Home for the Holidays Illy to Install Holiday House in New York City’s Time Warner Center November 29 through December 29, 2007
November 15, 2007
New York, NY – Illycaffè, the renowned Italian coffee company, brings a work of living art to the Time Warner Center for the holiday season with its innovative illy Push Button House, designed by noted artist/architect Adam Kalkin.
Originally unveiled at the 52nd Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition in June 2007, the illy Push Button House is a fully functional and sustainable home built within a standard industrial shipping container that takes approximately 90 seconds to fully open. The illy Push Button House is driven by actuators controlled by a specially designed computer located inside the dining room table. With the push of a button, the shipping container transforms into a five-room home with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library. The illy Push Button House will be open to the public from Thursday, November 29 through Saturday, December 29, 2007.
During the holiday season, illy will welcome shoppers, coffee aficionados and design enthusiasts alike to the illy Push Button House, where visitors can experience and learn about illy’s dedication to sustainability, quality and beauty while enjoying a complimentary cup of coffee. Guests at illy Push Button House will also have the opportunity to make a donation to Cup of Kindness, illy’s annual charity to benefit Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger. Proceeds from the event will be specifically earmarked for schools in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee and a source of illy’s premier coffee beans.
Both pragmatic and environmentally friendly, the illy Push Button House is created from recycled and recyclable materials and underscores illy’s message of sustainability and its connection to beauty through art and design. To accompany the illy Push Button House, the first floor of the Time Warner Center will display an exhibition of original art documenting and narrating the various land and dreamscapes in which a home could exist. From the tin to the taste buds, illy strives to turn drinking coffee into a unique and artful experience, and the illy Push Button House demonstrates the creative means illy employs to reinforce this vision.
Illy’s Cup of Kindness holiday tree will be “planted” in the area surrounding the illy Push Button House where visitors can make a donation and, as a token of appreciation, receive one of several gifts including an illy coffee cup designed by English architect and designer, Rufus Willis. The Rufus Willis cup is part of illy’s many signed and numbered limited edition cup collections, which are created by renowned and emerging contemporary artists and prized by collectors from around the world.
At the Push Button House, illy will preview its new Francis Francis! X7 Hyper Espresso System, which utilizes capsules developed, patented and produced by illy. Due to a revolutionary two-step extraction process, the capsules produce an espresso with a better quality crema (the layer of foam the rests on the surface of the espresso) that has 70% more volume and 20% more height than a traditional espresso shot and can last up to fifteen minutes compared to the average espresso’s five minutes. Already being used by some of the country’s top chefs, the Hyper Espresso System will be available to consumers beginning April 2008.
From December 8 through December 16 Giorgio Milos, a master barista from illy’s Università del Caffè in Trieste and a World Champion barista, will host “Entertaining Coffee,” a week-long program where he will demonstrate illy’s signature espresso drinks and innovative holiday espresso-based cocktails. Additionally, guests can enjoy illy Push Button Open House, with complimentary illy beverages along with a selection of sweet and savory treats provided by Bouchon Bakery, Monday evenings, December 3, 10 and 17, from 6pm to 8 pm.
Following the U.S. debut, illy plans to continue installing the Push Button House in additional locations around the world to perpetuate the continuous recycling of the house.
The illy Push Button House will be on display on the second floor of the Time Warner Center from November 29 through December 29, 2007. Operating hours are Monday through Friday from 10am-9pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11am-7pm.
About illycaffè
Based in Trieste, Italy, illycaffè produces and markets a unique blend of coffee as the single brand leader in quality coffee and gives coffee connoisseurs an overall authentic Italian coffee experience. Illy is available in more than 50,000 of the finest restaurants and coffee bars and is sold in over 140 countries around the world, serving more than 6 million cups of illy coffee per day. Globally, illy employs more than 700 people.
illy buys green coffee of the highest quality Arabica directly from the growers through partnerships based on the mutual creation of value. The Italian-based company fosters long-term collaborations with the world’s finest coffee growers – in Brazil, Central America, India and Africa – providing know-how and technology and offering above-market prices.
