Ettore Sottsass: the architect who invented postmodern furniture
Sottsass led the Memphis movement in the 1980s and changed how design thinks about colour, ornament and irony. His personal catalogue (separate from Memphis) is also exceptional, particularly his Olivetti work.
Ettore Sottsass (1917 to 2007) was the architect who invented postmodern furniture: he founded the Memphis Group in Milan in December 1980 and drove the work that broke design open between 1981 and 1987. He also had a full first career as Olivetti's design consultant from 1957, where he created the red Valentine portable typewriter (1968). Both careers trade actively on Whoppah: original Memphis Milano Carlton bookcases sit at €3,500 to €7,000, while a working Valentine runs €350 to €900. Sottsass and Memphis-era pieces are some of the most distinctive listings our curators handle, and the Memphis market has matured significantly in the last five years. Here's the guide to both sides of Sottsass.
Two careers in one
Ettore Sottsass (1917 to 2007) had two distinct careers, and both are worth knowing.
The first career was at Olivetti, where he was design consultant from 1957. He designed the Valentine portable typewriter (1968), the Elea 9003 mainframe computer (1959, his Compasso d'Oro winner), and a whole catalogue of office equipment that defined what mid-century Italian industrial design looked like. This Sottsass is calm, ergonomic, focused on usability. The Valentine in particular, with its bright red plastic body and integrated carry case, is one of the great consumer designs of the 1960s.
The second career was Memphis. Sottsass founded the Memphis Group in Milan in December 1980, gathered a collective of younger designers (Michele De Lucchi, Aldo Cibic, Andrea Branzi, Nathalie du Pasquier, George Sowden), and produced the body of work that broke postmodernism into furniture between 1981 and 1987. Where Olivetti Sottsass was disciplined, Memphis Sottsass was theatrical: patterned plastic laminates, geometric shapes pulled toward absurdity, colours saturated past good taste. The two are the same person, working in two registers.
The Memphis Sottsass pieces
The Carlton bookcase (1981) is the canonical Memphis object: a room-divider with bookshelves shooting off at angles, painted in primary colours. Original Memphis Milano-produced Carltons from 1981 to 1988 sit at €3,500 to €7,000 on Whoppah. Reissues from Memphis Milano (still in production) are around €15,000 retail.
The Casablanca sideboard (1981), with its similar angled shelves and saturated pattern, runs €2,800 to €6,000 in original production.
The Beverly cabinet (1981), the smaller cousin of the Carlton, is €2,000 to €4,500.
The Olivetti Sottsass pieces
The Valentine typewriter (1968) is the affordable entry to "real Sottsass". Working condition examples sit at €350 to €900 on Whoppah. The plastic body is what makes the design, and the red versions are more collectible than the later olive-green ones.
The Praxis 48 typewriter (1964) is the heavier, office-targeted predecessor. €200 to €450.
Why is the Ettore Sottsass market moving?
Memphis is having a serious revival in 2026 (I've written separately about why). Original Memphis-period Sottsass pieces have moved roughly 18% up over the past 18 months. Reissues have moved less. The differential matters if you care about provenance.
How do you recognise an original Memphis Milano piece by Sottsass?
Memphis Milano-produced pieces carry a paper sticker or metal plate identifying the maker, the design year and the designer. Look on the underside or the back panel. Pieces without this marker may still be Memphis-adjacent (some 1980s Italian production by other manufacturers used Sottsass-influenced patterns) but they aren't formally Memphis. Whoppah's curation differentiates strictly.
