Ettore Sottsass and the Poetry of Things

Ettore Sottsass and the Poetry of Things recounts the life of Ettore Sottsass (1917 to 2007), one of the most important designers and architects of the twentieth century. Trained as an architect, he worked as a design consultant for Olivetti, where he developed the Valentine typewriter, and in the 1980s founded the Memphis Group, whose colourful furniture, ceramics and lighting still influence designers today.

Deyan Sudjic looks beyond the designs to Sottsass's extensive travels and his encounters with figures such as Picasso, Hemingway and Allen Ginsberg. Previously unpublished personal photographs from Sottsass's archive accompany the text. The result, a 216-page hardback, is a portrait of the designer and of a century of design in Italy and abroad.