This unique project consists of five carefully crafted miniature facades, inspired by the legendary coffee symbols of Paris, Tokyo, Milan, Copenhagen and Berlin. The miniatures were mounted directly on the machines to show that the authentic, immersive experience of drinking coffee is no longer reserved for cafes, but can also be recreated in the comfort of home.
For decades, the belief has been perpetuated that professionally prepared coffee is a necessity of visiting a specific place. There was a common assumption that quality was related to the building – the brass doors of the Café de Flore in Paris or the tranquility of the Tominokoji café in Tokyo. De’Longhi debunks this myth, showing that the quality known from the best restaurants is also available in home cooking.
By collaborating with Weisse and reducing the legendary cafés into five precise facades, the brand shows that the standard of coffee expected from world-class establishments is now achievable in your own kitchen.
The project responds to market realities – 80% of coffee is consumed at home, and the coffee machine market exceeds £12 billion. Despite this, 72% of consumers still consider visiting a coffee shop as essential to getting the perfect coffee.
De’Longhi, in cooperation with Weisse, shows that quality lies in the device. Miniature cafes focus on the fact that with just one press of a button you can get the highest quality coffee.
“The perfect cup of coffee is no longer the domain of cafés alone; thanks to De’Longhi, the perfect experience can be had in your own home, with all its finesse and style,” said Aparna Sundaresh, CMO of De’Longhi. “That’s why we teamed up with Simon Weisse to create an imaginative and immersive experience that puts the world’s smallest café on the kitchen counter. Each project shows how one device can open access to the full café menu at the touch of a button. The café hasn’t just been made smaller – it’s become a permanent fixture in our private space.”
Simon Weisse is famous for building analog, immersive worlds in the era of digital effects. His partnership with De’Longhi is a rare step from a film set into the world of design, dictated by a shared obsession with the physical integrity of objects and the small details that define a sense of place.
“When De’Longhi approached my studio, I immediately saw an opportunity to apply cinema’s ‘forced perspective’ to their daily ritual,” says Simon Weisse. “In my screen works, miniatures are used to create a sense of wonder and precision that seems more ‘real’ than a computer-generated image. The decision to work with De’Longhi was based on the fact that they treat the coffee-making process with the same obsessive attention to detail. By building these tiny cafes, we wanted to show that the machine is the source of the very essence of coffee, and the quality of the coffee brewed by these machines is as high as that which can be found in a historic café in Paris.
Weisse’s workshop spent over 1,500 hours hand-carving, painting and distressing the five facades to look like authentic objects.
“Usually such works are created with the camera in mind, but in this case they are intended for the kitchen counter,” Weisse added. “The idea is to show that since the entire essence of a world-class café is contained in these miniature establishments, it fits perfectly into everyday life.”
The miniatures have been integrated with Rivelia, Magnifica Evo Next, Eletta Ultra, Eletta Explore and Primadonna Aromatic coffee machines, giving them the character of design objects.
The installation was presented during Milan Design Week 2026 in the Brera district (Corso Garibaldi), as well as in Copenhagen and Berlin on April 21–26, 2026.
