Biography of Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass (born 14 September 1917 in Innsbruck; died 31 December 2007 in Milan) was an Italian architect, industrial and product designer, photographer, painter and writer. He designed furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, lighting, typewriters, calculators, interiors and buildings. Through Olivetti and later Memphis, he shaped design history in the second half of the twentieth century.

Innsbruck and Turin

Sottsass was born in Innsbruck and grew up in Turin. His father, Ettore Sottsass senior, was an architect. The younger Sottsass studied architecture at the Politecnico di Torino and graduated in 1939. After the Second World War he first worked with his father and in 1947 founded his own studio for architecture and industrial design in Milan.

Olivetti

In 1956, Sottsass travelled to New York and briefly worked in the studio of designer George Nelson. After returning to Italy, he began working with Poltronova and, in 1958, with Olivetti. For Olivetti he designed the Elea 9003 computer, other office machines and the red portable Valentine typewriter, created with Perry A. King in 1969 and awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 1970.

Material, colour and alternative design

Sottsass worked for industry, magazines, exhibitions and independent artistic projects. He photographed, wrote for Domus, and designed ceramics, glass, jewellery and furniture. In the 1960s and 1970s, he moved away from sober functionalism and searched for forms, colours and materials that could make feelings, rituals and everyday life readable in new ways. This included ceramic totems, Superboxes, work for Poltronova and contributions to radical design groups.

Memphis

In 1980, Sottsass formed the Memphis group in Milan; its first exhibition opened in 1981. Memphis combined plastic laminates, vivid colours, geometric forms, patterns, humour and deliberate friction with modernism. Sottsass' Carlton bookcase became one of the group's recognizable objects. In 1985 he left Memphis and focused on Sottsass Associati.

Sottsass Associati and later years

With Sottsass Associati, he worked on architecture, shops, interiors, corporate design and products for international clients. His works are held in collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1999 he received the Sir Misha Black Medal. Ettore Sottsass died on 31 December 2007 in Milan at the age of 90.