Smeg is an Italian

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ty ...

manufacturer.

History

Founded in 1948 by Vittorio Bertazzoni as an enameling and metalworking company, the Smeg company preserves the memory of the activity originally carried out in the acronym Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla. During the 1950s the company’s metalworking background was accompanied by the production of its first cooking appliances. In 1956, the company presented "Elisabeth", one of the first gas cookers equipped with automatic ignition, a safety valve in the oven and a cooking programmer. In the 1960s, Smeg introduced its first ever washing machine, the Leda, and then introduced the 60 cm Niagara dishwasher, known for its unprecedented load capacity of 14 place settings. In 1971 the company began the production of built-in hobs and ovens.

Other activities

Having started in the residential sector, Smeg later entered the commercial market. Smeg Food Service manufactures appliances for the hotel, restaurant and catering market and Smeg Instruments supplies disinfection equipment to hospitals and dental surgeries.

Business

The design and manufacture of Smeg appliances is concentrated in four factories based in Northern Italy, each specialising in a specific type of appliance. Smeg has subsidiaries worldwide, overseas offices and an extensive sales network. Smeg has developed a product collection in collaboration with architects and designers, including Guido Canali (who also designed the company headquarters in Guastalla),

Mario Bellini Mario Bellini (born February 1, 1935 in Milan) is an Italian architect, critic, and designer. He received a degree in architecture from Milan Polytechnic in 1959 and began working as an architect in the early 1960s. Like many other Italia ...

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...

Marc Newson Marc Andrew Newson CBE RDI (born 20 October 1963) is an industrial designer who works in aircraft cabin design, product design, furniture design, jewellery, and clothing. His style uses smooth geometric lines, translucency, strength, tran ...

and deepdesign.

FAB retro-style appliances

Foire_de_Paris_2011_-_Smeg_-_Réfrigérateurs_-_001

In 1997, Smeg released their retro-style refrigerators. Produced in several colours, the FAB28 bore the distinctive SMEG lettering, deep curved doors and a chunky handle evocative of the 1950s. Fridge-freezer versions followed and colour options expanded to include pink, yellow, orange and lime plus special editions, including a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

door. In 2014, Smeg extended the FAB 50s style range further, with a collection of small domestic appliances such as toasters and kettles.

Awards

* 2010:

Good Design Award In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

granted by the Chicago Athenaeum, Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, for their FP610SG oven and the P755SBL hob from the innovative Newson product line.

References