Coffee machine museum · 21st century · Binasco, Italy

MUMAC — Museum of the Coffee Machine

MUMAC (Museo della Macchina del Caffè) is a specialist museum in Binasco, near Milan, dedicated to the history and design of espresso machines. Created by the Cimbali Group — one of Italy’s foremost coffee equipment manufacturers — the museum houses a permanent exhibition tracing over a century of coffee machine innovation alongside the second-largest coffee library in the world, with more than 15,000 documents and 1,000 books.

At a glance

Type: Corporate and cultural museum — espresso machine history and design
Period: Collection spans early 20th century to present; museum opened 21st century
Style: Contemporary industrial museum within the Cimbali Group headquarters
Location: Via Pablo Neruda 2, Binasco (MI), Lombardy, Italy
Coordinates: 45.3362° N, 9.0963° E

Overview

MUMAC occupies a unique place in the landscape of Italian industrial heritage museums, celebrating the espresso machine as both a design object and a cultural icon. Embedded within the Cimbali Group’s production campus in Binasco, the museum connects working manufacture with historical memory. Beyond its permanent displays, MUMAC operates as a research and education centre through the MUMAC Academy and the Senso Espresso programme.

History

The Cimbali Group has been producing professional espresso machines since the early 20th century, and the museum was established to document and celebrate this industrial legacy. Italy’s relationship with espresso culture is inseparable from the engineering tradition that produced lever machines, pump machines, and fully automatic systems over the course of a century. MUMAC preserves the artefacts of this evolution — from early brass boiler machines to contemporary electronic systems — within a single chronological narrative.

What you see

The permanent exhibition follows the evolution of coffee machine technology from the first steam-pressure devices of the early 1900s through the iconic lever machines of the 1950s and 1960s to modern precision equipment. Displays include original machines, technical drawings, advertising materials, and industrial artefacts that document the intersection of engineering, design, and Italian café culture. The adjacent library — the second-largest coffee library in the world — is accessible for research and contains an exceptional archive of books, catalogues, and trade documents.

Cultural significance

The espresso machine is one of the most recognisable symbols of Italian industrial design and everyday culture. MUMAC is the most comprehensive institution dedicated to this heritage, preserving objects that shaped café life across Italy and internationally. Its role as both museum and active research centre makes it a reference point for design historians and coffee professionals worldwide.

Practical information

Address: Via Pablo Neruda 2, 20082 Binasco (MI), Italy
Opening hours: Check official website for current hours; visits may require advance booking
Website: mumac.it

Getting there

Binasco is located approximately 20 km south of Milan city centre. By train, take the Pavia–Milan regional line to Binasco–Casarile station; the museum is a short taxi or bus ride from the station. By car, exit the A7 autostrada at Binasco and follow signs for the Cimbali Group / MUMAC. From Milan Linate Airport the drive is approximately 30 minutes.

Sources & resources

Find it on the map

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The museum of the coffee machine also known as MuMAC is an exhibition space dedicated to the history, technology, design and culture of the espresso machine for bars. It is located in Via P. Neruda, in Binasco, in the province of Milan.



Designed by the Cimbali Group to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the MuMAC was inaugurated on 12 October 2012. Since 2018 it has been part of the Lombard Circuit of Design Museums.



Collection with hundreds of espresso machines and training place for professionals and enthusiasts; one of the richest collections of documents on coffee and a multifaceted location for unique events.



The project is the work of the designer Valerio Cometti and the architect Paolo Balzanelli who renovated the space previously used as a spare parts warehouse. On the outside, the building is characterized by a facade with curvilinear metal slats in the &ldquo;Cimbali red&rdquo; color.



While inside - developed on an area of â€‹â€‹about 1,700 square meters - the skylights illuminate the white of the walls and ceilings (more than 8 meters high) with a mezzanine: in contrast, the floor is sepia, reminiscent of the color of the coffee. According to the Chinese publishing house Jtart, the museum has been recognized as one of the 101 most beautiful buildings in the world.



On 12 October 2012, a few kilometers from the center of Milan, the Cimbali Group inaugurated the MUMAC (Museum of the coffee machine), containing the richest and most complete collection of coffee machines on an international level.



Commissioned by the Cimbali Group to celebrate its hundred years of activity, the museum is set up in a modern space of about 1700 square meters within the Binasco production site. It is an industrial recovery of great value. The primary purpose of the company, leader in the sector, is to create a permanent exhibition open to the public, capable of offering all the information and insights into the history, culture and design of the espresso machine.



This collection of the coffee machine represents and protects the Italian heritage in this sector. Italian technology and design are told through a multimedia path full of audio-visual stimuli, supported by a compendium of documents of great historical importance.
The story continues with the international metamorphosis experienced in the eighties and nineties up to the new millennium with the most innovative and high-tech pieces.



A story that starts from the early years of the twentieth century, with a typical atmosphere of the Liberty and Twentieth century bars, and crosses the years of the Italian economic boom describing the birth of a new way of life represented by life in bars, up to the flourishing of design and to its explosion with great designers of the sixties and seventies. Among these, the Castiglioni Brothers, Sottsass and Giugiaro deserve to be mentioned.

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MUMAC – Museum of the coffee machine