Ettore Sottsass: The Magical Object

Anna Sansom | The Design Edit | 2nd November 2021

When Sottsass graduated in architecture after WW2, building projects were scarce. He instead chose design, producing sculpture, ceramics, jewellery (“miniature architecture”) and notably, furniture. While functionality was important, so too was an object’s emotional impact. Designs he produced with Memphis Group were described as a “shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price”. Still, he is widely credited with introducing the “poetics of artmaking” into design. Images are here.