Ettore Sottsass
Born in 1917, Ettore Sottsass was a postmodernist architect and designer, as well as a co-founder of the Memphis Group, a furniture design collective. Originally from Austria, Sottsass moved to Italy with his family to study architecture.
He opened his own architecture and design studio after World War II. During that time, he began his journey designing the furniture that would get him noticed in the world of design. However, his work with the Memphis Group is what really set him apart and established him as a founder of post-modernism. With the group, he created bright, geometric, and unconventional (and somewhat impractical) furniture, lighting and ceramic design. The Memphis Group wanted to promote radical design, and it is safe to say they succeeded.
Throughout his career, Sottsass often experimented with two-dimensional space on three-dimensional surfaces.
Sottsass passed away in 2009 but his legacy lives on to this day. His work is displayed in collections of many museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the MOMA, and the London Design Museum.