Sottsass (Bilingual edition)

Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was an Italian architect and designer known for his industrial and experimental designs. Winner of the prestigious Compaso de Oro in 1959, the artist contributed through his work to going beyond functionalist theories after the war.

Like his father before him, Sottsass studied architecture in Turin at the Politecnico, graduating in 1939. In 1947, he moved to Milan and founded his own design studio. In 1956, at the request of the painter and sculptor Sergio Cammilli, he became the artistic director of Poltronova, a new furniture company. Sottsass then created Poltronova's logo and produced its first catalogues. This collaboration had a strong impact on Sottsass's work, as the catalogues became the medium for his experimentations with geometric shapes, mixes of materials, and vibrant colours.

Between innovation and social criticism, the brand became a true standard-bearer of Italian creation and collaborated with renowned artists such as Max Ernst. From 1960 to 1970, the ten years of collaboration between the designer and Poltronova marked a period of almost total freedom for Sottsass. It was a moment both rich in creations and decisive in establishing the designer's aesthetics, which you can now discover in Sottsass (Bilingual edition), through an analysis of Sottsass's work, advertising photos of the time, annotated sketches, and his personal photographs.