Ettore Sottsass: Design begins where magic begins

Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was a globally acclaimed master of twentieth-century Italian design. Starting in the 1950s, he created masterworks as a designer for Olivetti and Poltronova. In 1981, he organized the Memphis Group, an international design collective. He and other Memphis members created designs that were regarded as postmodern and that had a great influence on their generation.

Sottsass questioned pursuing excessive rationalism and sought to restore the sensation of people living freely and vibrantly. Through fresh designs filled with humor, he aimed to shine a bright light on the lifestyles, lives, and fates of the people of his time. This exhibition, the first Sottsass retrospective in Japan, will display more than 100 works, from his early to later periods, which the Ishibashi Foundation has collected and introducing an abundance of designs brimming with creativity.

In recent years, the Ishibashi Foundation has launched a new initiative, collecting works in the field of design. Our collection now includes more than one hundred pieces spanning from Sottsass’s early period to his later years. This exhibition is the first major Sottsass retrospective in Japan and presents these works in their entirety—as well as being the museum’s first-ever design exhibition.

Concurrent exhibition
TAKIGUCHI Shuzo: Writing and Drawing