Sottsass, Ettore, Jr (1917–2007)

Austrian-born Italian product and furniture designer. He was active in Milan, Italy, from 1945. As well as co-founding the interior design company Sottsass Associati with fellow members of the Memphis group, Sottsass undertook several architectural projects in Austria, Italy, Japan, and the USA. Sottsass is the best known of the Italian ‘radical’ designers of the 1970s who challenged the values of establishment design. He also played an important role in postmodernism in the 1980s.

His work in the areas of typewriters and office furniture, including his red plastic portable ‘Valentine’ typewriter (1969) and ‘Synthesis 45’ (1969), for the Olivetti company, ensured him a living as a freelance designer from 1958. While his more experimental, personal projects in the areas of furniture and ceramics, among them his ‘Yantra’ series of one-off ceramic vases (1970), marked him out as one of the most innovative designers of his generation. Sottsass was the prime mover behind the Memphis group, which made an international impact with its zany designs in the 1980s.