Memphis

In December 1980, Ettore Sottsass met with a group of younger architects in his apartment in Milan. He was in his 60s and his collaborators - Martine Bedin, Aldo Cibic, Michele De Lucchi, Matteo Thun and Marco Zanini – were in their 20s. With them was the writer, Barbara Radice. By February 1981, the group, bolstered by the addition of George Sowden and Natalie du Pasquier, had completed over a hundred drawings of furniture, lamps and ceramics. After decades of modernist doctrine, Sottsass and his collaborators longed to be liberated from the tyranny of smart, but soulless ‘good taste’ in design.Their solution was to continue the experiments with uncoventional materials, historic forms, kitsch... more.