18 June 2014
Browsing through the new monograph that Electa has devoted to Sottsass, edited by Philippe Thomé, signifies plunging into an extraordinary world and reemerging only after 237 pages of passionate reading. Page after page, we follow Sottsass around the world. We find him in his apartment on Via Manzoni, in Milan, with his partner Fernanda Pivano. We see him involved in Memphis, designing incessantly at a fever pitch (“I couldn’t sleep, my brain went on working, ideas came to me, I wrote and drew”). As for the images, testimony to this incredible creative vitality is provided by sketches, designs for houses and stores (his collaboration with Fiorucci was fundamental), iconic objects (from the red Valentine typewriter, designed for Olivetti, to the Nuovo Milano set of flatware for Alessi), pages from his diary and then ceramic ziggurats, totemic furniture, jewelry. There is no area of design that Sottsass did not toy with, think about, try his hand at. The only interruption to the unceasing flow of his production came from a free and joyful play of the emotions. A unique adventure of the spirit. A real must.
Olabuenaga House, Maui, Hawaii, 1989-97. Photo: © Grey Crawford.
Study for Villa Lora Totino, Turin, 1951.
Valentine, 1969. Photo: © Alberto Fioravanti. © Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice.
Study for an apartment with paintings by Capogrossi, 1957.
Barbarella for Poltronova, 1965. Photo: © Erik & Petra Hesmerg. © Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice.
Carlton, 1981. Photo: Collezione Memphis Milano – Aldo Ballo. © Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice.
Sketches, 1960.
Glass for Ernest Mourmans, 2006. Photo: © Erik & Petra Hesmerg. © Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice.
Ettore Sottsass, circa 1970. © Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice.
