Phaidon's much-loved monograph on the legendary Italian designer and architect, Ettore Sottsass

The re-release of this highly acclaimed title demonstrates the continual fascination, from both fans and collectors, with the life and work of Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass. The designer's work is popular and influential in equal measure, from his designs for Olivetti (such as the striking, bright red, manual typewriter, the Valentine, with its ingenious carry-case) to the post-modern brilliance of the work of the Memphis Group, founded by Sottsass in Milan in 1980.

Packed with beautiful images taken from the extensive Sottsass archives and including drawings and sketches from the designer's countless sketchbooks, the book explores his entire career from the 1940s to the 2000s, covering everything from his architectural projects and product design to his ceramics, sculpture, and graphics.

About the Author:

Philippe Thomé was born in Geneva in 1951. In 1991 he was awarded a doctor of letters by the University of Geneva, having written his thesis on the work of Ettore Sottsass. He has taught history of art at the universities of Geneva and Lausanne, and history of architecture and design at ECAL (School of Art and Design, Lausanne).

Minimum Design: An indispensable compendium on important designers of the modern era
An ideal and accessible introduction suitable for students and lovers of design today

Ettore Sottsass was an Italian architect and designer. His work included furniture, jewellery, glass, lighting and office machine design. His work was unique, much of it influenced by a desire to avoid corporate work, believing that to confine himself to the realms of mass-produced consumerist products would stifle his creativity. His design style shifted dramatically during his career, from the modernist typewriters and office furniture commissioned by Olivetti in the 60s to the vibrant and iconic pieces of furniture created for the collection from the Memphis Group, a group of architects and designers that he worked within the 80s and 90s.

Published in the same style as the successful Minimum Architects series, the Minimum Design series includes books about the major figures in the field of design, creators of objects that have become a part of our daily lives. The lamp on our desk, the chair we are sitting on or the glasses we are wearing have a genius behind them to be discovered.

These volumes will introduce in a practical manner the personalities and the works of the world's major designers by way of an historical-critical introduction to the work and life of each individual designer. An accurate selection of the designer's most famous objects arranged in chronological order and a critique of his or her work summarising the most significant reviews published in magazines and newspapers will complete the subject.

The dazzling Collection Art de Cartier will once again amaze the public with their impressive pieces this time seen through the revolutionary eyes of the master of Italian design, Ettore Sottsass.

Richly illustrated, this catalogue accompanies an international jewelry exhibition. Ettore Sottsass presents the Collection Art de Cartier in a brilliant new manner, viewing the collection as a reflection of form and design, while understanding its function and relation with the surrounding space and the bodies it adorns. For this impressive project Ettore Sottsass has selected over 350 jewels, watches and accessories following his personal and intuitive taste forgoing epochs and fashion trends, and creates and highlights the ties amongst the materials, style and colour. To emphasize his vision, for each piece Sottsass creates a decorative element meant to contain the object as a shrine located in a cosmic space.