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.”

 

 

Grey Olivetti Tekne 3 typewriter, frontal view, close-up
Grey Olivetti Tekne 3 typewriter, side view

Image caption

Olivetti Tekne 3 typewriter, 1965. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

 

Valentine portable typewriter, side view, close-up

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 wearing moustache, looking downwards

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.

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


A square-shaped robot on 16 small wheels
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