The quirky Italian industrial designer and architect Stefano Giovannoni was born in La Spezia in 1954 and studied architecture at Florence University until 1978. From 1979 Stefano Giovannoni taught there, while researching at the Domus Academy in Milan and the Università del Progetto in Reggio Emilia. With Guido Venturini, Stefano Giovannoni founded the King-Kong studio in the 1980s. For Alessi they designed the extremely successful "Girotondo" line in household appliances and accessories of metal and plastic, featuring the distinctive cut-out stick man. Stefano Giovannoni has also created numerous original designs on his own for Alessi, including the "Fruit Mama" (1993) fruit bowl, the "Merdolina" (1993) toilet brush, and the "Mary Biscuit" (1995) cookie jar of cheerfully garish plastic sporting an outsize cooky on the lid. Stefano Giovannoni has also worked for Magis, Flos, Fiat, Seiko, Siemens, Henkel, Lavazza, Helit, and many other firms.