8th August 2007
Good design - if rule breaking means ‘being original’. Aesthetics might be said to dominate the Memphis movement - but not at the expense of a product loosing its purpose; it had to remain functional. Perhaps ‘Memphis’ and ‘Good Design’ are just Synonyms - Memphis is to design what aphorisms are to language : a refreshing truth - uncomfortable in its accuracy.
In the early 1980’s a group of designers centred around Ettore Sottsass and including Marco Zanini, Aldo Cibic, Martine Bedin, George Sowden, Matteo Thun and De Lucchi produced designs for an exhibition that set new standards for playful and sophisticated design. Colours used in a dynamic and graphic way and reminiscent of the ‘op’ art
movement of the 1960’s have come to epitomise
the style now known as ‘Memphis’
movement of the 1960’s have come to epitomise
the style now known as ‘Memphis’
Cibic 1985
Chair
Chair
Bedin 1981
Lamp
Lamp
Sowden 1972
Lamp
Lamp
Thun 1981
Teapot
Teapot
De Lucchi 1983
Chair
Chair
Sottsass 1981
Bookcase
Bookcase
‘Memphis’ was attractive to design students of the time and remains so today. It is perhaps quirky, free-thinking, striking and colourful but whilst having a distinctive 1980s look it is now beginning to seem more in touch with the design of the 21st Century than the century in which it originated. There is an element of rule-breaking and yet that probably goes with most
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