Valentine Notebook

He was educated at the Politecnico di Torino in Turin and graduated in 1939 with a degree in architecture. Sottsass was best known as the founder of the early 1980s Memphis Group collective. He also designed electronic products for Olivetti, as well as glass and ceramic work.
Sottsass was born September 14, 1917, in Innsbruck, Austria, and grew up in Milan, where his father was an architect. He served in the Italian military and spent much of World War II in a concentration camp in Yugoslavia. After returning home in 1947, he set up his own architectural and industrial design studio in Milan.
In 1959 Sottsass began working as a design consultant for Olivetti, designing office equipment, typewriters and furniture, despite his lack of technical knowledge. Sottsass was hired by Adriano Olivetti, the founder, to work alongside his son, Roberto. There Sottsass made his name as a designer who, through colour, form and styling, managed to bring office equipment into the realm of popular culture. Sottsass, Mario Tchou, and Roberto Olivetti won the prestigious 1959 Compasso d’Oro with the Elea 9003, the first Italian mainframe computer.