Originally published at Gizmodo
By David Ponce
With this product, I was faced with a dilemma. See, it’s old. And very much so, as it was created in the mid-80s by Philippe Starck (who, incidentally, likes to spell his name a very artsy “S+arck???). Yet, it has got to be the most striking lemon squeezer I’ve seen, and as such deserving of some attention, even 20 years later. In my inconsequential opinion anyway.
I like to think it looks like some alien spaceship. That, however, is what a six year old might say. Instead, here are the words from the Alessi catalogue.
It remains unparalleled in its ability to generate discussions about its meaning and design, partly because of its unconventional use of what semiologists refer to as the decorative veil, a notion that suggests there is always a certain degree of freedom in interpreting relationships between Form and Function.
I have no idea what any of that really means. I’ll tell you this though: after 20 years, it still sells quite well, and does so for $75 at Fitzu.
I have one of those lemon squeezers, and it’s definately a case of form over function.
One of the prime requisites for any juicer is the removal of the pip & pith from the juice.
The s+arck juicer might look pretty, but it fails the above, depositing almost the entire content of any fruit straight into your glass, pith, pips and all.