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Friday, December 20, 2013

Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2008) was born in Innsbruck, Austria. He studied architecture in Turin, Italy, and opened a studio there in 1947.

He was a design consultant for Olivetti from 1958 to 1989, where he created the memorable Elea 9003 calculator and the famous red portable typewriter, commonly referred to as the Valentine typewriter, because it was released on Valentine's Day in 1969.

In the 1970s he designed housewares for Alessi, a decanter for Baccarat, a chair for Knoll and carpet for Namastre.

In the 1980s he was a founder and leading figure of Memphis, a Milan-based design group famous for brightly colored post-modern furniture, lighting and ceramics. The collection  included works in glass, acrylic, aluminum and tropical wood. His Tahiti lamp from this period looks like a tropical bird with a long yellow neck and red beak.

Sottsass was known for his playfulness, his wit and his whimsical ornamentation, but he said, "Memphis is like a very strong drug. You cannot take too much. It's like eating only cake." Even he would probably say of this room, "Out of control!"

From latimes.com and nytimes.com


Memphis design
thecultureconcept.com

Valentine typewriter for Olivetti by Sottsass and Perry King
moma.org

Enorme phone
icollector.com

Tahiti lamp
memphis-milano.com

Knoll Mandarin chairs
1stdibs.com

Tartar console
artfindings.com

Custom headboard with drawers
latimes.com

Nine-O chairs for Emeco
dezeen.com

Olabuenaga House - Hawaii, USA
architectureweek.com

Wolf House - Colorado, USA
designbybone.co.uk

Jasmine Hill House - Singapore
selfselector.co.uk

Casa Cei - Tuscany, Italy
panoramio.com


I found this brief video to be an interesting look into Sottsass's life and career.



youtube.com
Uploaded by DesignPublic - June 9, 2008

2 comments:

  1. There's a Swarowski vase by Sottsass on ebay that's going for $9,500.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will be interesting to see if anyone bids on that piece.

      Delete