Ettore Sottsass was an Italian architect and designer born in September of 1917 in Austria. Sottsass studied architecture at the Politecnico di Torino, as his father also worked as an architect. However, shortly after graduating, he served in World War II as part of the Italian military. Once the war was over, he returned home and worked briefly as an architect with his father before opening his own architectural and industrial design studio in Milan. Here, he felt that he had the freedom to experiment with different media such as glass, ceramic, jewelry, lighting, and furniture.
In 1956, Ettore Sottsass was hired by Adriano Olivetti to work as a design consultant for “Olivetti”, a company that specializes in the design of electronic devices. Here, he learnt how to design things like typewriters and other office equipment.
Ettore Sottsass founded the Memphis Group in Milan on December 11, 1980. The Memphis Group was a collaborative design group that emphasized experimentation with new design styles instead of following the classic trends. Most of their work was heavily inspired by pop art and the art deco style due to the use of bright, bold colours, textures, and patterns.
Unfortunately, Sottsass passed away in December of 2007 at the age of 90.
References: https://www.artsy.net/artist/ettore-sottsass https://artemest.com/collections/ettore-sottsass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Sottsass