Over 2,300 products and designs are currently part of the Compasso d'Oro Collection, a national treasure permanently exhibited at the ADI Design Museum in Milan. We are among the more than 360 winners, and for the entire Barazzoni family, it's a source of pride and a starting point to always strive for higher goals. It's not difficult for us, actually: some people have a thing for bold color, others for highly elaborate solutions, but we have a weakness for design. Always. Ever since our company was founded. Ever since 1897, when our company founder Giovanni Battista Barazzoni opened a small artisan workshop making brass, copper, and tin housewares: a handful of years later, the catalog already boasts 139 items and 523 models, each one different from the next. This passion for form also exploded in the hands of his son, Giovanni Battista “Neni” Barazzoni, who further expanded production: in 1930 1600 pieces were offered, in aluminum and galvanized sheet metal.
The origins of kitchen design
It was thanks to Neni that we were the first in Italy to introduce the concept of design into the creation of our products. No one had dared before. Neni had a brilliant idea that forever changed the course of the history of companies specializing in cookware and kitchen utensils. He said: " If we design the tableware ourselves, we're the same as everyone else. But if we have specialists design it, then we'll be very competitive ." This is how the TUMMY cookware line was born, designed by Ennio Lucini and unique in its kind, which earned Barazzoni, among numerous awards, the prestigious Compasso d'Oro in 1979 in the Home Furnishings and Accessories category. 
In the photo from the time, the Compasso d'Oro won by Tummy pans in 1979.
The pot: from common object to icon
The oldest and most recognized design award in the world thus recognized the value that Tummy's design has brought to the world of manufacturing and society across the board. Why was the Tummy cookware line chosen? For many reasons. It's no coincidence, after all, that it's still produced today, updated in the Tummy Evolution line by our artistic director Claudio Bellini, and is still passed down from mother to daughter! First and foremost: it's the forerunner of cookware created in collaboration with a renowned designer. In this case, it was Ennio Lucini who transformed the familiar cylindrical object found in every kitchen (and certainly not accustomed to flattering glances or compliments), an ancient and indispensable object, into an icon with an extraordinary rounded shape, reminiscent of ancient Ligurian terracotta pots. Sinuous, feminine, soft curves: as soon as it was launched, the Tummy cookware took the market by storm, so much so that at the time there was a waiting list of at least six months to get one. Its plus points: in addition to its curvy design, the combination of a polished and satin finish inside makes for easier daily cleaning. Made of 18/10 stainless steel, it has a three-layer steel-aluminum-steel bottom for optimal temperature distribution and slim, curved steel handles that are ergonomic to grip and beautiful to look at. Bellini then restyled the Tummy Evolution and offered it in two versions: one with a steel lid and one with a glass-silicone lid. It represents the future, always in step with the needs of contemporary cuisine, with a taste for convivial pleasures, but never separated from that precious legacy of heritage, an indispensable foundation for those who look to the future.
The entrance to the ADI Museum in Milan
Design born from harmony
Since that innovation, Barazzoni has created several product lines in collaboration with leading designers: Ferdinand Porsche (who designed the Luci & Ombre line, named after the stark contrast between the polished finish and black, the stainless steel interior, the aluminum base and sides, and the titanium exterior to prevent heat loss), Mario Bellini, and architect Claudio Bellini (who in 2003 designed the My Lady line, created to mark the company's centenary and also winner of multiple awards, including the Good Design and RedDot Awards), to name just a few. Yet design, which has always been part of Barazzoni's DNA, has never been an end in itself. Every detail of our cookware stems from the pursuit of perfect harmony between cutting-edge technology, exceptional quality, optimal functionality, and captivating form. Thus, the special volumes, the thicknesses of the steel, the technical characteristics of the bases, and every infinitesimal detail are designed to combine excellent performance with cutting-edge aesthetic innovation. Form marries function. The project is enriched with unexpected solutions, yet always closely connected to the purpose for which they were conceived. This is not a compromise: it is an unbreakable bond developed by an advanced in-house design studio and thanks to collaboration with leading Italian and international designers.
The greatest success? Continuity over time
Thus, from this expert blend, Barazzoni's shapes were born. Thus was born our iconic Tummy, the Compasso d'Oro-winning pot, and more extraordinary pots and pans will be created, still passed down from generation to generation, still starring in the kitchen and defying trends, because "for us, making a steel pot means producing an object designed to last over time," as our president Andrea Barazzoni always likes to say. This is why form is our obsession: we love shaping raw materials, making them tend toward ever more daring expressions of design, ever easier to use, ever more beautiful to live with. 
