20th century table, desk and floor lamps by Ettore Sottsass, Italy

Ettore Sottsass, the most eminent designer of the 20th century, was born in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1917, and studied architecture in Turin, graduating in 1939. During World War II he served in the Italian military, spending much of his time in a prisoner of war camp in Yugoslavia. After returning home, he opened his first studio in Milan in 1947.

Ettore Sottsass become a creative consultant to Polotronova, a furniture manufacturer near Florence in 1957, and then worked as a design consultant for Olivetti from 1958 to 1980. He designed the Elea 9003 calculator and the popular portable red 'Valentine' typewriter, released on Valentine day 1970, and whose features included a carriage that dropped to the level of the keyboard and a storage case

In the 1970s, Ettore Sottsass was hired by Alessi and he designed various items for the company, such as cutlery, condiment sets, plates and other kitchen more... equipment. He also designed a vase and a decanter for Baccarat; several collections of tables and chairs for Knoll, and a number of silver-plated geometric design candlesticks for Swid Powel.

In the late 1970s, Ettore Sottsass was working with Studio Alchymia, a group of avant garde furniture designers, but he split with them in 1980 to become a founder and a leading member of Memphis, the Milan design group. Memphis exhibited its brightly coloured postmodern furniture, lighting and ceramics made of acrylic, aluminium and tropical wood from 1980 to 1988.

Ettore Sottsass had departed the group in 1985 and formed Sottsass Associati, an architecture and design group where he worked with former Memphis members and younger designers.

He returned to architecture in the mid 1980s when he was commissioned to design a chain of shops for Esprit, a series of private houses and public buildings, including Malpensa 2000 airport near Milan.

Sottsass Associati has also worked for Apple, NTT, Philips and Siemens.

Towards the end of his life a number of museums and galleries presented retrospectives of his work, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2006, and the Design Museum in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Friedman Benda Gallery in Manhattan all in 2007. less...