Memphis design is the style of the Memphis Group, also called Memphis Milano: an Italian design and architecture collective founded by Ettore Sottsass and active in Milan from 1980 to 1987. Its postmodern furniture, lamps, ceramics and fabrics used cheap plastic laminate, terrazzo, clashing color and asymmetrical shapes, and the look spread far beyond the group itself.
Origin
- December 6, 1980: Memphis “was born” on the evening Sottsass invited a group of young designers and architects to discuss the future of design. Three months later they returned with more than a hundred drawings.
- The name: Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” played repeatedly during that first meeting. Per Wikipedia, the group liked the ambiguity of a name shared by a Tennessee city and an ancient Egyptian capital.
- September 1981: the first collection was presented at Milan’s Arc’74 gallery and, in the Vitra Design Museum’s words, “was an international sensation.” The V&A says its Martine Bedin Super lamp, a prototype, was shown at that first exhibition.
- 1982: Vitra dates the group’s “final breakthrough” to Karl Lagerfeld furnishing his Monte Carlo apartment with Memphis pieces.
- 1985 and 1987: Sottsass left in 1985 to focus on Sottsass Associati; the group disbanded in 1987.
Members and Key Pieces
The Vitra Design Museum names Ettore Sottsass, Michele De Lucchi, George Sowden, Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Barbara Radice, Peter Shire, Nathalie Du Pasquier and Shiro Kuramata among its best-known members.
- Carlton room divider (Sottsass, 1981): a “totemic pole” of bright colors, solid shapes and voids, built from cheap plastic laminates for a luxury market. The National Gallery of Victoria holds one (accession D76.a-c-1985), made by Memphis, Milan in wood, thermosetting laminate, metal and plastic.
- Super lamp (Martine Bedin): painted steel, supported at each corner by a steel wheel; the V&A describes its example as “the initial prototype.”
- Beverly sideboard (Sottsass, 1981): cited by Vitra among the group’s most important storage pieces.
Memphis vs Bauhaus vs Postmodernism
| Bauhaus | Memphis Group | Postmodernism (broad) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When | 1919–1933 | 1980–1987 | Emerged mid-20th century |
| Where | Weimar, Dessau, Berlin | Milan | International, many disciplines |
| Founder / figure | Walter Gropius | Ettore Sottsass | No single founder |
| Stance on function | Unify artistic vision with mass production and an emphasis on function | ”Overcome the dictates of functionalism, celebrate the banal and everyday” (Vitra) | A skeptical response to modernism; playful, eclectic styles |
Bauhaus facts are from Wikipedia’s Bauhaus article and postmodernism from its Postmodernism article. Critics quoted by Wikipedia called Memphis “a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price.”
Pattern and Material Glossary
| Element | What it is in Memphis work | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic laminate | Colored laminate surfaces, a Memphis trademark that Sottsass had used since his 1960s “totems” | Vitra; Wikipedia |
| Terrazzo | Used alongside plastic laminate in Memphis work | Wikipedia |
| Garish color and wild pattern | Designs that “seemed to have walked straight off the pages of a comic book” | Vitra |
| Asymmetry | Asymmetrical shapes, sometimes alluding to exotic or earlier styles | Wikipedia |
Recent Developments
- November 11, 2016: the third part of Sotheby’s London Bowie/Collector sale focused on David Bowie’s Memphis design collection (Cooper Hewitt). It’s Nice That reported Sottsass’s Casablanca sideboard, estimated at £3,000–£5,000, sold for £68,750, and Peter Shire’s Big Sur sofa sold for £77,500.
- 2010s: Wikipedia notes Memphis styles were often incorporated into the #Vaporwave aesthetic, and that Wired dubbed a flat, geometric illustration style popular with startups “Corporate Memphis.”
- 2021–2022: the Vitra Design Museum Gallery marked the group’s 40th anniversary with Memphis: 40 Years of Kitsch and Elegance.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Group
- https://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/memphis-40-years-of-kitsch-and-elegance.html
- https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1177310/
- https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/20879/
- https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2016/11/08/living-with-memphis/
- https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/sothebys-bowie-collector-art-and-design-sales-exceed-value-141116
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism