Download PDF (544 K) ETTORE SOTTSASS
1907-2007
One of the most significant counter-forces to modernism in the history of design, Ettore Sottsass has made monumental artistic contributions to every decade since 1945. His remarkable career has produced a provocative body of work, including architecture, furniture, industrial design, glass, ceramics, painting, photography and a wealth of writings. With this work he has consistently intellectually and aesthetically challenged the conventional wisdom of forms and proportions for over 65 years. Having celebrated his 90th birthday in September, Sottsass continues to produce work through Sottsass Associati, the architecture and design practice he founded in Milan in 1985.
Sottsass has been continually driven by a personal search for a new language of modern design. His rigorous pursuit has led to the creation of such groundbreaking movements as radical design, anti-design, and post-modernist architecture, which led to his founding Memphis in the early 1980s.
A central concern of much of Sottsass' work has been the social, cultural and technical implications of architecture and design on the way people live and interact. He has been particularly affected by the new materials and technologies introduced during his lifetime. His exploration of these elements has led him to apply both newfangled and historical materials in non-traditional ways. Color and form have played a role of equal importance in Sottsass' work and he is well-known for embracing them with a similarly radical approach. Throughout the entirety of his career, from early paintings of the 1930s to later works of architecture during the 1980s, Sottsass has used color to determine shapes within a composition and the relationship of exterior surface to interior function.
Sottsass' remarkable career has produced a diverse array of commissions that have transformed architecture and design. Iconic built architectural works include Wolf House (1989) in Colorado and Milan's Malpensa Airport (2000). Objects he designed for Alessi and electronic products for Olivetti, including his iconic Valentine typewriter, have changed the landscape of industrial design. The Memphis movement, for which he is most popularly known, set the style for an entire decade.
Sottsass's career has recently been the object of major retrospective exhibitions: at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2006, the London Design Museum earlier this year, and the Ghent Museum of Art this fall. Additionally to these institutions, his work has been collected by the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Modern Art , New York; the San Francisco Museum of Art; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
1917
Born in Innsbruck, Austria to an Italian father, the architect Ettore Sottsass Sr., and an Austrian mother, Antonia Peintner.
1929
Family moves to Turin so Ettore Jr. can study architecture.
1936
Travels to Paris on his own with very little money. Stays in a flophouse near Gare de Lyon and survives on two cans of preserved fruit in three days.
1939
Graduates in architecture from Turin University only to be called up into the Italian army. Spends most of World War II in a concentration camp.
1945
Returns home to work for his father. Moves to Milan in 1946 to curate a craft exhibition at the Triennale and starts contributing to Domus magazine. Sets up his own architectural and industrial design practice.
1956
Travels to New York to work in George Nelson's studio for a month. Back in Italy, he is invited to design furniture for Polotronova, near Florence.
1958
Appointed as design consultant to Olivetti's new electronics division.
1959
Launch of Elea 9003 calculator. Works on Tekne electronic typewriter.
1961
Travels to India for three months, but is hospitalised in Milan with a mystery ailment. Roberto Olivetti sends him for treatment in the US.
1965
Designs pop-influenced "totem" ceramics and the first "superbox" closets coated in stripped plastic laminate. Sottsass describes them as "crazy things."
1967
Co-founds the Planeta Fresco literary magazine with Allen Ginsberg.
1970
Valentine typewriter wins the Compasso d'Oro. Sottsass art directs an ad campaign featuring the Valentine being held by people all over the world.
1972
Participates in Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at MoMA, New York.
1973
Founds Global Tools design school with Archizoom and Superstudio.
1978
Collaborates with Alessandro Mendini and Andrea Branzi on Studio Alchimia's exhibition of 'new design' furniture at Milan Furniture Fair.
1980
Having left Alchimia, he forms a new design collective, Memphis.
1981
Over 2,000 people flood into the opening party for the first Memphis exhibition in Milan. Sottsass Associati is also founded that year.
1985
Announces that he has left Memphis. Returns to architecture at Sottsass Associati where he completes numerous industrial design projects too.
2000
Sottsass Associati designs new Milan airport, Malpensa 2000.
2001
The Memphis revival begins with the opening of Memphis Remembered at the Design Museum, London.
Selected Exhibitions:
2007
Ghent Museum, Belgium.
Friedman Benda Gallery, New York.
Design Museum, London.
2006
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2004
Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Barry Friedman Ltd., New York.
2003
Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Köln, Germany.
Museo d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy.
2002
Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
2000
Museum of Modern Art, Gifu, Japan.
Suntory Museum, Osaka, Japan.
Marugame Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
1999
Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea L. Pecci, Prato, Italy.
Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland.
Bonnefante Museum, Maastricht, NL.
Niitsu Art Forum, Niigata, Japan.
Living Design Center Ozone, Tokyo, Japan.
1997
Gallery Binnen, Amsterdam, NL.
1996
Gallery Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland.
Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
Galleria Dessa, Lubliana, Slovenia.
Gallery Ma, Tokyo, Japan.
Mourmans Gallery, Knokke, NL.
Design Gallery, Milan, Italy.
1994
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.
Gallery Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland.
1993
Deichtorhallen Museum, Hamburg, Germany.
Centre d'Art Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain.
Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany.
1991
Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy.
Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
1990
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL.
1989
Yamaghwa Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.
1988
Design Gallery, Milan, Italy.
1987
Blum Helmann Gallery, New York.
Documenta 8, Kassel, Germany.
1986
Museé d'Art Contemporaine, Lyon, France.
1985
Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York.
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
XVII Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy.
1982
Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy.
1981
Axis Galley, Tokyo, Japan.
1980
Forum Design, Linz, Austria.
1978
Biennale di Venezia, Italy.
1976
Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York.
Design Zentrum, Berlin, Germany.
Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
Centro de Diseño Industrial, Barcelona, Spain.
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Visual Art Board, Sidney, Australia.
1975
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
1972
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
1969
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Sverige Arckitecturmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden.
Galleria la Nuova Loggia, Bologna, Italy.
Galleria il Sestante, Milan, Italy.
1968
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL.
Design Center, Milan, Italy.
1967
Galleria Sperone, Genova, Italy.
1966
Centro Fly Casa, Milan, Italy.
1965
Galleria Sperone, Turin, Italy.
Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy.
Libreria Feltrinelli, Milan, Italy.
1964
Galleria Aquilone, Florence, Italy.
Galleria il Sestante, Milan, Italy.
Galleria Tornabuoni, Florence, Italy.
1963
Biennale d'Arte Contemporanea, Bari, Italy.
Galleria il Sestante, Milan, Italy.
1961
Bolles Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Goldsmit's Hall, London, UK.
1960
XII Triennale di Milano, Italy.
1958
Galleria il Sestante, Milan, Italy.
1957
XI Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Galleria il Sestante, Milan, Italy.
1955
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan, Italy.
Galleria del Cavallino, Venice, Italy.
1954
X Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy.
1946
VIII Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Palais des Beaux-Art, Paris, France.
Bibliography
Ettore Sottsass: Metaphors. M. Carboni, B. Radice, Skirà, Milano: 2002.
Ettore Sottsass: Scritti 1946/2002. M. Carboni and B. Radice, Neri Pozza Editore, Milan: 2002.
Ettore Sottsass: Tutta la Ceramica. F. Ferrari,. Allemandi, Turin: 1996.
Ettore Sottsass. A.V., Centre Georege Pompidou, Paris: 1994.
Ettore Sottsass. B. Radice, Electa, Milan: 1993.
Ettore Sottsass Jr. H. Hoger, Wasmuth, Berlin: 1993.
Ettore Sottsass. J. Burney, Trefoil, London: 1991.
Ettore Sottsass Jr. de l'Object a l'Environment. P. Thomé, Geneva: 1991.
Ettore Sottsass: Drawings Over Four Decades. A.V., Ikon, Frankfurt: 1990.
Ettore Sottsass Jr. G. De Bure, Rivages, Paris: 1987.
Ettore Sottsass: Mobili e Arredamenti. G. Sambonet, Mondadori, Milan: 1985.
Memphis: Object, Furniture and Pattern. R. Horn, Running Pr., Philadelphia: 1985.
Memphis. B. Radice, Electa, Milan: 1984.
Ettore Sottsass: Progetti di un Designer Italiano. A . Martorana, Firenze: 1983.
Ettore Sottsass Jr. P. Sparke, Design Council, London: 1982.
Memphis: the new international style. B. Radice, Electa, Milan: 1981.
Ettore Sottsass Jr. I. Gaon, Israel Museum, Jerusalem: 1978.
Ettore Sottsass: Scrap-Book. F. De Castro, Milano: 1976.
Kontinuitat von Leben und Werk: 1955-1975 von Ettore Sottsass. A.V., Berlin: 1976.
Ettore Sottsass: de l'Object Fini a la Fin de l'Object. A.V, M. Art Decoratif, Paris: 1976.
On Sottsass Associates
A.V., Sottsass Associati. Rizzoli International, New York: 1988.
A.V., Sottsass Associati: arret sur l'image. ed. L'Archivolto, Milan: 1993.
A. V., 12 Interiors - Sottsass Associati. Terrazzo, Milan: 1998.
M. Carboni, Sottsass Associati: 1980/1999 frammenti. Rizzoli, Milan: 1999.
M. Carboni, The work of Ettore Sottsass and Associates. Universe, New York: 1999.
by Ettore Sottsass:
Miljo for en ny planet. National Museum, Stokholm: 1969.
Esercizio Formale. Milan: 1979.
Esercizio Formale n°2. Studio Forma/Alchimia, Milan: 1980.
Curio cabinet, mirror, chairs, tables. Blum Helman Gallery, New York: 1987.
C'est pas facile la vie. il Melangolo, Milan: 1987.
Bharata. Design Gallery, Milan: 1988.
Design Metaphors. Idea Books, Milan: 1988.
Advanced Studies 1986-1990. Yamagiwa Art Fundation, Tokyo: 1990.
Rovine. Design Gallery, Milano: 1992.
La darrera oportunitat d'esser avantguarda. C. Art Santa Monica, Barcelona: 1993.
Adesso però. Reiseerinnerungen, Hatje Verlag, Hamburg: 1994.
Ceramics. Stemmle, Zurigo: 1995.
Walls. Terrazzo ed., Milan: 1995.
Big & Small Works. Gallery Mourmans, Knokke: 1995.
Memorie de Chine. Gallery Mourmans, Knokke: 1996.
The curious Mr Sottsass. Thames & Hudson, London: 1996.
151 Drawings. Gallery Ma, Tokyo: 1997.
Architetture indiane e dintorni. Naples: 1998.
Lo specchio di Saffo. Postdesign, Milan: 1998.
Glass Works. Vitrum, Venezia: 1998.
Epifanie Brevi. Atelier Lytos, Como: 1998.
Trattato di architettura. Atelier Lytos, Como: 1999.
Mobili Lunghi. Postdesign, Milano: 2000.
Esercizi di Viaggio. Aragno, Torino: 2001.
Esercizi. Alberico Cetti Serbelloni Editore, Milano: 2002.
Honors and Awards
Among the many honors that have been conferred to Sottsass are: the title of Officier of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic in 1992, an honorary degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States in 1993, the IF Award Design Kopfe from the Industrie Forum Design in Hanover in 1994, the title of Honorary Doctor of the Royal College of Art in London, and the Award Design from the Brooklyn Museum of New York in 1996, the Oribe Award from the town of Gifu in Japan in 1997, an honorary degree from the Glasgow School of Art in 1999, an honorary degree from the London Institute of Art, an honorary degree in Industrial Design from the Milan Polytechnic and the title of Grande Ufficiale per l'Ordine al Merito from the President of the Italian Republic in 2001.