Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass (September 14, 1917 – December 31, 2007)
Ettore Sottsass was born in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1917. He received his degree in
architecture from the Turin Polytechnic in 1939. In 1947 he opened his own
architecture and design office in Milan. Parallel to his professional work, he held
solo shows of his paintings in Italy and abroad, participated in group art
exhibitions and showed at several editions of the International Exhibition of
Triennale Milano.
His collaboration with Olivetti began in 1958 and lasted for over thirty years,
during which he received three Compasso d’Oro design awards. Among the
items he designed for Olivetti are: Elea, the first Italian electronic calculator, in
1959; Tekne 3, Praxis 48, the red portable typewriter Valentine and Sistema 45.
All throughout the ‘60s and early ‘70s, Sottsass’s work explored the themes that
would stand central to his designs in the years to come: it was during this period
that he laid the foundations for what would later be called Nuovo Design Italiano.
The Ceramiche delle Tenebre are made in 1963 and the 100 plates Offerte a
Shiva in 1964. Of the same year are the first pieces of furniture in wood/ceramics
for Poltronova. The Superbox are designed in 1965 and 1966 and so are the large
ceramic pieces Menhir, Ziggurat, Stupas, Hydrants and Gas Pumps, shown in
Milan at Galleria Sperone in 1967. The show at Centro Fly Casa, Milan, opened in
1966, while the exhibition Paesaggio per un Pianeta Fresco opened in Stockholm
in 1969. Finally the ceramics Tantra, Fumo and Yantra belong to the years 1968-
70 and the Mobili Grigi for Poltronova to 1970. In 1970, after a tour of
conferences in different British universities, Sottsass received an honorary
degree from the Royal College of Art in London.
Always in the second half of the ‘60s, Sottsass starts Pianeta Fresco, magazine
co-edited with Allen Ginsberg and Fernanda Pivano and he is involved in the first
debates on Radical Architecture, followed, at the beginning of the ‘70s, by
several conceptual counter-design works. Also are to be mentioned: his designs
for the exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (MoMA,1972); the
silkscreen series Il Pianeta come Festival, 1972; the tables and stools for BBB
and Tappeto Volante for Bedding Brevetti, 1974.
All along these years, Sottsass never stops writing and publishing for Domus,
Casabella, other magazines or books.
In 1978,1979 and 1980, he participated in the exhibitions of Alchymia group.
In 1980 he founded Sottsass Associati Studio and Memphis
In 1981 the first Memphis exhibition opens in Milan (shows will follow until 1987).
Memphis, gathering internationally known architects and desingers, quickly
became the symbol of Nuovo Design and point of reference for all contemporary
avant-garde directions.
In 1988, with Barbara Radice, Sottsass founded the magazine Terrazzo, in which
the themes of Nuovo Design Italiano, explored by Memphis, were developed and
extended to architecture and contemporary culture.
Starting from 1985, Sottsass began focusing again on architecture.
Built designs: Wolf House (Colorado1987-89); Bischofberger House (Zurich 1991-
96); Olabuenaga House (Maui, Hawaii 1989-97); Nanon House (Lanaken, 1995-98)
and Mourmans House (Lanaken, 1998-01); Yuko House (Tokyo 1991-93); VanImpe
House (Sint-Lievens-Houtem 1996-98); Zhaoqing Resort and Golf Club (China
1994-96); Jasmine Hill Houses (Singapore 2000).

In 1994, a large Sottsass retrospective was held at Centre Pompidou, Paris.
In 2004, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples held a large exhibition of his
photographic work.
In 2005 the retrospective at MART, Rovereto.
In 2006 the retrospective at LACMA, Los Angeles.
In 2007 Vorrei sapere perché (I’d like to know why) the last show, in Trieste.
His works are in the permanent collections of a wide range of museums:
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris;
Victoria&Albert Museum, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; MoMA, New
York; Metropolitan Museum, New York; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal;
Israel Museum, Jerusalem; National Museum, Stockholm.
Among the last recognitions he was awarded: 1992, the title “Officier de l'Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres” of the French Republic; 1993, honorary degree from
Rhode Island School of Design; 1994, iF Product Design Award, Hannover; 1996,
honorary degree from the Royal College of Art, London and Design Award from
Brooklyn Museum, New York; 1997, Oribe Award from the City of Gifu, Japan;
1999, honorary degree from Glasgow School of Art; 2001, honorary degrees from
London Institute of Art and from the Milan Polytechnic. Always in 2001 he
received the title of “Grande Ufficiale per l'Ordine al Merito” from the President
of the Italian Republic. In 2003 he was made “Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts
et des Lettres” from the Minister of Culture of the French Republic. In 2005,
Sottsass received the Gold Medal and First-Class Diploma for “Benemeriti della
Cultura e dell’Arte” from the President of the Italian Republic.