Designer : Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass Ettore Sottsass is a leading Italian designer renowned for his spiritual and sensory approach to design and architecture. He is...

Design MarketJuly 2016

Ettore Sottsass Ettore Sottsass is a leading Italian designer renowned for his spiritual and sensory approach to design and architecture. He is the founder of the famous Memphis group. Sottsass is a particularly prolific designer, creating a multitude of pieces with a particular emphasis on colour, light and form. He has created design icons such as the Asteroid lamp (1968), the Carlton bookcase (1981), the Westside chair (1983) and the Ospité table (1984). As you can see below, his creations are truly original and demonstrate his visionary eye. [caption id="attachment5927" align="aligncenter" width="788"] Asteroid lamp © Georges Meguerditchian - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP © Adagp, Paris Asteroid Lamp © Georges Meguerditchian - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP © Adagp, Paris [/caption] [caption id="attachment5923" align="aligncenter" width="788"] Carlton Library © Metmuseum.org Metmuseum.org [/caption] [caption id="attachment5924*" align="aligncenter" width="425"] Westwide Headquarters © collections.vam.ac.uk collections.vam.ac.uk [/caption] [caption id="attachment5931*" align="aligncenter" width="316"] Ospité dining table Ospité dining table [/caption] Biography Born in 1917 in Austria. In 1929, he moved to Italy with his family, where he studied architecture like his father, the great architect Ettore Sottsass Sr. The young designer quickly distinguished himself by his curiosity and pronounced taste for the arts; he was fascinated by painting and sculpture as well as drawing and photography. He completed his studies in Turin in 1939, worked for a time with his father and then founded his own studio in Milan in 1947. Sottsass developed a wide range of impressive professional skills: he was an artist, designer, architect, consultant for design companies, magazine editor and publisher! In 1956, he left for the United States and joined the agency of the famous George Nelson in New York. This was a turning point in his career, as it was here that he discovered the practices linking industrialists and artists. Some time later, Sottsass returned to Milan and took up the post of artistic director at Poltronova, a company specialising in furniture design. In 1958, Adriano Olivetti offered him the position of consultant designer. Sottsass went on to design the first Italian computer, the Elea 9003 (1959) with Perotto Pier Giorgio, typewriters such as the Valentine (1969) with Perry A. King and many other extraordinary creations. [caption id="attachment5951" align="aligncenter" width="788"] Elea 9003 computer (1959) © museoscienza.org museoscienza.org / Valentine typewriter (1969) © sanfranciscoitaly.com sanfranciscoitaly.com [/caption] Curious and ingenious, the designer is constantly on the lookout for change and new innovations! It was in this spirit that he joined the Anti-design movement in the 1960s, a movement that opposed functionalism and rationalism, two visions that were very much in vogue at the time. In 1972, Sottsass made his mark on the international scene by taking part in the famous exhibition "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape" , organised by the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York. [caption id="attachment5937" align="aligncenter" width="788"] Design by Ettore Sottsass © CSAC, Università di Parma. Environments and Counter Environments. "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape," MoMA 1972. Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts. Design by Ettore Sottsass © CSAC, Università di Parma. Environments and Counter Environments. "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape," MoMA 1972. Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts. [On 11 December 1980, Ettore Sottsass founded the famous Memphis group. [caption id="attachment5953" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Memphis group © memphisgroup memphisgroup[/caption] This group transformed Italian design by overturning the codes of post-Bauhaus design through the introduction of new colours, patterns and other materials such as laminate. The young Memphis designers brought new forms to the creation of lighting and furniture. Through their union, they sought to open up to fashion and other artistic movements such as Pop Art. Many talented people were part of Memphis, including Andrea Branzi, Shiro Kuramata, Martine Bedin, Nathalie du Pasquier and, of course, art critic Barbara Radice. The group ended in 1988. [caption id="attachment5940" align="aligncenter" width="345"] Ashoka lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis (1981) Ashoka lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis (1981)[/caption] At the same time, the designer and artist founded his own agency, Sottsass Associati, and worked for major international companies such as Apple and Fiat. He was inventive, using highly geometric shapes previously reserved for mathematics and science. He began designing jewellery with the "Bijoux d'architectes" (1987) and "La séduction" (2001) collections. Ettore Sottsass passed away on 31 December 2007, leaving behind him a brilliant career that continues to shine a light on design and the arts. Find all the Ettore Sottsass pieces available on Design Market Find all the Ettore Sottsass pieces available on Design Market Find all the Ettore Sottsass pieces available on Design Market

Designer : Ettore Sottsass

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