George Sowden has been working with design for nearly 50 years. From calculators to teapots, Sowden has designed hundreds of objects over the years to improve the functions of everyday life.
Mette Hay met up with Sowden at his studio in Milan for a conversation about making and drinking coffee with the Softbrew and the new HAY Coffee and Tea Pots.
Driven by emerging technology and a constant desire to improve the design and use of objects, George Sowden developed the Softbrew brewing device for coffee. The micro-etched filter has holes so minute that coffee grinds are kept completely separate from the brewed coffee.
In the 70s Sowden had completed his architecture studies in the UK and moved to Milan where he worked with icons of Italian design like Olivetti and Ettore Sottsass. Together with Sottsass and several other influential designers living in Milan, Sowden was a founding member of the Memphis Collective where he designed objects for the home and everyday life that pushed the limits of the design world and challenged the standard notions of objects and function.
