Ettore Sottsass Synthesis desk chair

Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was an Italian architect and founder of the postmodern Memphis Group, famous for its colour and flamboyance. The Synthesis chair was part of Sottsass’s ‘Sistema 45’ revolutionary office system, hailed as the first truly open plan workspace without the “trench” walls of metal filing cabinets. It met commercial resistance – funnily enough his office LSD dispensers didn’t catch on.

This desk chair for Olivetti is made from ABS plastic beautifully coloured in an oxblood red also known as the Memphis colour. The chair is featured in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Crack to the back of the seat. Some scuffing to the plastic and minor paint loss to the metal elements.

W57 D57 H74cm

G258