Sottsass Coffee Table Book Featuring Memphis Design, Phaidon, 2014
About the Item
- Designer:Ettore Sottsass
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 13 in (33.02 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)Depth: 1.88 in (4.78 cm)
- Style:Memphis (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:China
- Period:2010-
- Material Notes:Embossed hard cover with foldover style with gloss and matte pages.
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Good condition with some light soiling to the cover and a little crunch to one corner as shown in photograph 12.
- Seller Location:Atlanta, GA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU487321673992
Ultrafragola Mirror
Most mirrors are meant to be looked in, but some are meant to be looked at. The Ultrafragola mirror by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) is a classic example of the latter: It is hard to look away from its soft neon glow and sensuous curves, which resemble flowing wavy hair.
As part of Sottsass’s “I Mobile Grigi” series for the third edition of the Eurodomus trade show, the Ultrafragola, which translates to “ultra strawberry” in Italian, was designed in 1970. It was a precursor to his best-known accomplishment: the 1981 founding of his design collective the Memphis Group (Milan, not Tennessee), which embraced Pop art and exhibited a flashy unorthodox sensibility. The Ultrafragola embodies many of Memphis’s postmodern ideals. With its cheap plastic shell — made of vacuum-formed opaline acrylic — this playful and flamboyant piece challenged modernist design’s clean lines and austere shapes at the time.
Despite the Memphis Group’s spirited start, with its members experimenting radically with furniture, jewelry and more, it had a short life span. In 1985, Sottsass refused to be defined by a single design movement, so he left the group, which formally dissolved two years later. However, Italy’s Poltronova still manufactures the Ultrafragola mirror today. And it’s seeing a revival thanks to its made-for-social-media aesthetic and growing favor among celebrities and contemporary interior designers. Indeed, the Memphis style is having a beautiful, bold, neon-colored comeback.
Ettore Sottsass
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Atlanta, GA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Gio Ponti Coffee Table Book, 1990By Gio PontiLocated in Atlanta, GABeautifully published 1990 book entitled, Gio Ponti The Complete Work 1923-1978, by his daughter and oft time collaborator, Lisa Licitra Ponti. The book is 288 pages filled with phot...Category
1990s Italian Design
- Line Vautrin Sculptor, Jeweller, Magician Book 1992By Line VautrinLocated in Atlanta, GA1992 hardbound publication about the amazing artist and designer, Line Vautrin, entitled 'Line Vautrin: Sculptor, Jeweller, Magician'. The 112 page book includes an essay by the art...Category
1990s American Design
- Family Houses by the Sea Coffee Table Book, 1993Located in Atlanta, GA'Family Houses By The Sea' is a 1993 Clarkson Potter publication by Jerome Darblay and Alexandra D'Arnoux featuring 21 of the most charming ocean view homes and old school resorts fr...Category
1990s American Design
- Over The Top: Helena Rubinstein Coffee Table Book, 2006Located in Atlanta, GAOver The Top: Helena Rubinstein, Extraordinary Style, Beauty, Art, Fashion, Design published in 2006 and written by Suzanne Slesin chronicles the life and extraordinary times of a trailblazer in the cosmetics industry. Not only was Helena Rubinstein (1872-1965) a savvy and successful entrepreneur, but she was also a stylemaker with unique taste for both personal adornment and decor. Her art collection included ground breaking modernists of the time ... Picasso, Dali, Matisse, Brancusi ... just to name a few. She was also fascinated with African art and incorporated carvings and masks into her Art Deco decors. This hardbound 216 page volume recounts her history, both business and personal, with beautiful images and informative text. Original dust jacket included. As Ms. Rubinstein would say, 'There are no ugly...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Style
- 1994 Book On the History & Fashion of ChatelainesLocated in Atlanta, GAIf chatelaines are your thing then curl up with this book for a good dose of eye candy ... if you don't know much about chatelaines then you will have a great appreciation after read...Category
Mid-19th Century British Fashion
- Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People With Photography by Horst, 1968Located in Atlanta, GABeautiful people, lush gardens and stylish interiors ... Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People, published by Viking Press in 1968, offers an insider's view of fascinating people an...Category
1960s American Style
- Gio Ponti The Complete Work 1923 - 1978 1st Edition Hard Cover BookBy Gio PontiLocated in University City, MOGio Ponti The Complete Work 1923 - 1978 1st Edition Hard Cover Book This is the first complete survey and thematic profile of one of the most prolific and accomplished Italian arch...Category
1990s Italian Design
- Soup tureen Christian Dior Porcelain From LimogesBy Christian DiorLocated in PARIS, FRSoup tureen Christian Dior Porcelain From Limoges - Good condition, has slight traces of wear appeared with time. - Christian Dior Limoges po...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Vintage
- Rock and Royalty Gianni Versace Hardcover Table Book 1st Ed. Large FormatBy Gianni VersaceLocated in North Hollywood, CARock and Royalty Gianni Versace Hardcover Large Coffee Table Book.Abbeville Press, 1999 - Celebrities - 288 pages EnglishFashion's late king here offers a parade of couture featuring...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fashion Books
- Diamonds In the Heart of the Earth, in the Heart of Stars, at the Heart of PowerLocated in North Hollywood, CADiamonds: In the Heart of the Earth, in the Heart of Stars, at the Heart of Power Hardcover Book.Mouawad first edition december 1, 2001 by Hubert Bari (Author), Violaine Sautter (Author).Patrick Absalon, Hubert Bari, Michele Bimbenet-Privat, Robyn Frechet, Emmanuel Fritsch, Michel Guiraud, Hugh Hill, Jean-Pierre Lorand...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Couture
- Resonances de Cartier: High Jewelry & Precious Objects Hard Cover Book c 2017By CartierLocated in University City, MOResonances de Cartier: High Jewelry & Precious Objects hardcover book c 2017 A wonderful archive featuring an array of exquisite Cartier's precious jewelry designs The hardcover boo...Category
2010s Italian Wearable Art
- David Webb A Walk in the Woods Artful Animals Exhibition Pamphlet Book c 2022By David WebbLocated in University City, MODavid Webb's A Walk in the Woods Artful Animals Soft Cover Pamphlet Exhibition Book c 2022 The soft cover brochure book was from a 2022 David Webb exhibition featuring an archive ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Softcover and Paperback