Ettore Sottsass
ETTORE SOTTSASS was born in Innsbruck in 1917 and studied architecture at the Polytechnic of Turin before graduating in 1939. In 1945 he worked for the Giuseppe Pagano group of Architects, before setting up his own office 'The Studio' in Milan in 1947. He worked as a design consultant for Olivetti (1958 – 1980) and during the 1960's he designed several pieces of Anti-Design Furniture that were manufactured by Poltronova.
In the 1970's, he became a member of Global Tools and in 1979, became involved with Studio Alchimia. In 1980, he co-founded SOTTSASS Associati with Aldo Cibic, Marco Zanini and Matteo Thun. A year later he established the design group ‘Memphis' which was a key player in producing post-modernist furniture and he is known the world over as one of the initiators of the revolution in architecture and design which led away from the rigid functionalism of the years prior to and following the Second World War. He began working for Alessi in 1972 designing trays and bar sets.
A great and influential Maestro of Italian design, the energy of his language and the vitality of his colour and line contrast sharply with any intellectualism and rigidity. Ettore Sotsass died in 2007.
