Round ice cream display case

Scale 1:100

Tonda arises from the dream of infusing life to a display case different from all others, a display case which could give the gelato a magical display, sharing the same joyful soul of the product it is destined to keep and bringing a fresh wave of renovation in a context that, though technologically speaking in constant evolution, has not been offering key innovations for sixty years. A display case able to arouse those
emotions that, like the gelato and the childhood universe it represents, make everybody become a child again but at the same time marks a leap forward in technology, usability, environmental defence and operators’ health. We are at the beginning of the third millennium. The man who dreamt of a magical display case is Gianfranco Tonti ‒the then Managing Director of Ifi‒ who consolidated around himself a first‒class scientific and technical team and called in to make his dream come true a designer internationally acclaimed for his pleasure in experimenting and his refined planning qualities: Makio Hasuike. The idea around which, with passion and dedication, 25 professionals including engineers, research chemists, electricians and proto‒typists intensely worked, bending the laws of thermodynamics and of advanced computer science and applying the teachings of the most profound Italian culture, came to an end in the simple but extremely elegant features of a circular display case, the first conceptual revolution since the “classic” 1960s display cases.
A display case where gelato turns around in a motley whirl, to be savoured by the eyes before coming to the pleasure of taste. The big book of gelato had turned a page. What seemed impossible did come true:
the ideal synthesis between the best gelato conservation method, that of pozzetti counters, and the visual emotion of traditional display cases, in cutting‒edge industrial design work that is second to none in
terms of ergonomics and comfort, and thinking also of the health of operators who now need not expose their arms to very low temperatures, and of defence of the environment thanks to choice materials and energy saving. Because of its features, Tonda has been made available from the beginning also to the arts of pastry and pralines as well. One of the historic fathers of Italian graphic design, Michele Provinciali, is the man in charge of grasping the soul of this new intellectual work and expresses it in an indelible Sign, thus closing Tonda’s perfect circle. A circle “retraced” by a special compass, the ADI Compasso d’Oro that, in 2008, awarded Tonda a mention and Michele Provinciali the Compasso d’Oro Lifetime Achievement. Among the other acknowledgements won by the Tonda, the label of Progetto Altamente Innovativo (Highly Innovative Project) by the Ministry of Productive Activities (together with the Platinum Project of which it is a part), the Confindustria Award for Excellence and the inclusion in the Collezione Farnesina Design of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tonda is history’s first round and rotating gelato isplay case. Designed by industrial designer Makio Hasuike in collaboration with Ifi Research and Development department, it has marked a momentous step for the artisan gelato world, preserving taste like pozzetti do and showing flavours under the aura of a colourful whirl. The Tonda communication plan has been entrusted to the Italian graphic master Michele Provinciali and his collaborators Mauro Filippini and Francesco Pellizzari.