Sottsass

208 pages, Bilingual French English

The most creative decade of the Italian designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was an Italian architect and designer known for his industrial and experimental designs. Winner of the prestigious Compasso d’oro in 1959, he contributed through his work to going beyond functionalist theories after the war.
In 1956, at the request of the painter and sculptor Sergio Cammilli, Sottsass became the artistic director of Poltronova, a new furniture company. He then created Poltronova’s logo and produced its first catalogs, which constituted the support of his experimentations with geometric shapes, mixes of materials, and vibrant colours. Between innovation and social criticism, Poltronova became a true standard bearer of Italian creation and started collaborating with renowned artists such as Max Ernst. Sottsass’ 10 years of collaboration with Poltronova, from 1960 to 1970, marked a period of almost total freedom for him, and had a strong impact on his work. It was a moment both rich in creations and decisive in establishing the designer’s aesthetics that can be now discovered in this book, through an analysis of Sottsass’ work, advertising photos of the time, annotated sketches, and personal photographs.