The Austrian-Italian designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was one of the most significant and simultaneously unconventional designers of the 20th century. He gained fame for his designs for the office equipment manufacturer Olivetti, for poetic-minimalist object sculptures, and as the leader of the design collective Memphis in the 1980s. Throughout his long career, Sottsass worked across various disciplines, leaving behind a fascinating body of work.
Among Sottsass's most famous works are his furniture pieces for the Memphis Group, which made waves in the 1980s and set the tone for the postmodern design language. The vibrant colors, patterns, and shapes of Memphis objects were inspired by everyday motifs, pop culture, and non-European cultures that Sottsass had encountered on many travels since the 1960s. Iconic objects such as the Carlton bookcase (1981), the Ashoka (1981) and Tahiti (1981) lamps, as well as the Tartar desk (1985), emerged from this influence. These objects engage in communication with the observer, breaking free from the functionalist design approach.

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