Ettore Sottsass, 1974.
Photo by Bruno Gecchelin. © SIAE 2017.
19
17
born in Innsbruck, Austria
39
Ettore Sottsass during World War II, c. 1944. © Courtesy Phaidon Press.
graduates from Polytechnic University of Turin
47
opens his own architectural and industrial design studio in Milan
57
art director at Poltronova
58
begins work as designer for Olivetti
Poster for Olivetti Summa Prima 20 designed by Giovanni Pintori, 1960.
Print advertisement for Olivetti Lettera 32 designed by Pintori Giovanni, 1960.
59
with Mario Tchou and Roberto Olivetti wins Compasso d’Oro for design of the Olivetti mainframe computer Elea 9003
Olivetti Elea 9003 computer, 1959. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
68
awarded honorary doctorate of art by the Royal College of Art (London)
69
his Valentine portable typewriter for Olivetti reaches the market
Valentine portable typewriter, 1968. Photo by Alberto Fioravanti © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
80
establishes design group Memphis
Table lamps: Tahiti, 1981; Don, 1977; Halo Click, c. 1988. Photo by Jürgen Hans © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
81
with Memphis colleagues founds Sottsass Associati
Collaboration between Zumtobel and Ettore Sottsass, 1986. © Zumtobel.
Lamp designed by Ettore Sottsass for Zumtobel. © Zumtobel.
2007
dies in Milan at 90
i make no special difference between architecture and design, they are two different stages of invention. —ettore sottsass
Sketch for Casa Wolf (1987–89). © Sottsass Associati.
typewriters
From 1958 into the 1960s, Sottsass worked for the Olivetti company on the design of typewriters and other office equipment. In his first year, he designed Tekne 3, a typewriter, and was part of the team that produced the first Italian mainframe computer, Elea 9003, for which he, Mario Tschou and Roberto Olivetti won the Compasso d’Oro. But Sottsass’ real hit was Valentine, the bright red portable typewriter that he called “a simple little toy.”
It could be used anywhere outside the office, he thought, with “no suggestion of the monotony of work.” He saw it as being used by “aspiring poets on quiet Sundays in the country” and as “a vivid object on a table in a city apartment.”
Image caption
Olivetti Tekne 3 typewriter, 1965. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Valentine portable typewriter, 1968. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
colors are like words. with colors you can tell stories. —ettore sottsass
Ettore Sottsass, 1984. © Barbara Radice.
color and architecture
As an architect, Sottsass worked with vivid colors, and many of his buildings look almost as if built of Lego pieces. For materials, he used bricks, wood and stone. “I was recently in a building where everything was made of glass, even the floor. I walked like a turtle—it felt as if it was going to shatter under me. That’s not right, at least as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Casa Wolf, 1987–89. © Sottsass Associati, 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Interior of the Esprit showroom, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1986. © Sottsass Associati, 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
ERG Petroli service station, 1988–90. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Bar Zibibbo, Hotel Il Palazzo, Fukuoka, Japan, 1989. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
The Ettore Sottsass Pavilion at the Museo dell’Arredo Contemporaneo, Ravenna, Italy, 1988. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
when i began designing machines, i also began to think that these objects, which sit next to each other and around people, can influence not only physical conditions but emotions as well. they can touch the nerves, the blood, the muscles, the eyes and the moods of people. —ettore sottsass
