This year would have been Ettore Sottsass’s 100th birthday had he did not passed away in 2007. The Italian architect and designer produced a wide range of work from buildings, interiors, furniture, jewellery and household objects. After setting up his studio in 1947, he was hired by office equipment manufacturer Olivetti as a design consultant and created one of his famous Pop designs, the red “Valentine” typewriter. 

He took on various design related roles in the 1970s and later founded the Memphis design collective in 1981, continued to create iconic designs such as the Ashoka and Tahiti lamps. The vibrant and unusually colours, patterns and forms as well as the postmodern aesthetics had become his signature way in communicating with his audience.

Currently there are two exhibitions to commemorate this important figure in the field. Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical is taking place at The Met Fifth Avenue in New York from now until October 8, while Ettore Sottsass: Rebel and Poet is happening at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany’s Weil am Rhein and will end on September 24.