The volume presents the long and exciting life of the architect and designer Ettore Sottsass (1917 – 2007) through a chronological itinerary divided into chapters. Each chapter coincides with a biographical and productive time frame, shedding light on the general context in which he worked.
Sculpture, painting, architecture, furniture, interior design, installations, graphic design, publications, industrial design, photography, ceramics, glass, jewelery are the themes – and the 'subsections' to the chapters – in which the story in the volume is articulated. These disciplines, to which Sottsass devoted himself more or less intensely but always constantly over the years, characterize her 'professional nomadism', as Barbara Radice defined it.
The ambitious volume Electa-Phaidon, far from wanting to trace the boundaries of a multifaceted and prolific activity, it is the first monograph published after his death: a large, richly illustrated collectible work, refined in the use of graphics, in the choice of colors and in the selection of papers .
From the most famous products, such as the 'Valentine' typewriter for Olivetti, or those that have marked the history of design such as the Superboxes and gray furniture for Poltronova, to famous collaborations such as the one with Alberto Alessi and the Fiorucci flagship stores; from his commitment to architecture to the founding of Sottsass Associati and the construction of very special private homes in the XNUMXs.
And yet the conception, the design of many everyday objects. Deyan Sudjic wrote in 2008: "It would not be difficult to find yourself immersed in a life almost entirely shaped by Ettore Sottsass ... [...] At home, the bed, the bathtub, the taps, the handle and even the door could have been designed from him […]. And then there are knives and forks, glasses and plates and cups sold by the thousands and designed by Sottsass”.
The volume also contains ample space for photographs, mostly from travels, often unpublished and from Sottsass's private archive, shots that the designer took without any artistic ambitions. ''In my life I have taken many photographs, especially as a boy, because I had so much time. But I never thought of taking 'pictures' like a photographer. I was horribly curious, that's all."
The volume closes with a section of sketches, paintings and drawings that summarize Sottsass's creative style: they are annotations for ceramics, jewellery, lamps, textures, decorations as well as for furnishings, houses and palaces or simply notes commenting on life.
Biography
Ettore Sottsass was born in Innsbruck on 14 September 1917 and died in Milan on 31 December 2007. He is the son of the architect Ettore Sottsass and of an Austrian mother, Antonia Peintner.
He graduated in architecture at the Turin Polytechnic in 1939 and began his activity in Milan in 1947 where he opened his first design studio.
In 1948 he joined the MAC group (Movimento di Arte Concreta) and participated in the first collective exhibition in Milan.
In 1958 the collaboration with Olivetti begins, which will last about thirty years. With the first project, the Elea 9003 Mainframe computer from 1959, he won the first Compasso d'Oro. Ten years later, the Valentine typewriter and work on office furniture followed, among others.
In 1981 he founded the Memphis group.
In 1980, together with Aldo Cibic, Matteo Thun, Marco Zanini, and Marco Marabelli, he founded the Sottsass Associati studio.
In 1985, after retiring from Memphis, he resumed the architectural design he had interrupted in the 60s.
In 1988 he founded, together with Barbara Radice, the Terrazzo magazine.
Numerous exhibitions have been dedicated to him around the world.
Ettore Sottsass died in Milan on 31 December 2007, at the age of ninety.
