Memphis Group

Memphis was a group of designers who radically broke with the prevailing in the 1970s, the rules of functionalism, which in turn was a continuation of modernism of the twenties. The group was initiated in 1980 by Ettore Sottsass as a result of movement of "Studio Alchimia " in Italy. It can also be seen as a parallel development to the post-modern architecture, who worked at the same time with a similar design language.

See also: Memphis Design

Features

The ostensible functionality of design objects presented Memphis radically questioned. Everyday forms were interpreted positive, passionate and imaginative. In the foreground the furniture stands as an icon with a high recognition value. Furniture were made up of elementary shapes ( cones, spheres, pyramids, cubes) and coated with garish plastic laminates. The distinctive look of the Memphis draft caused a worldwide distribution, which was mostly limited to glossy magazines, museums and private collections.

Michele De Lucchi and Ettore Sottsass, both inspired by your work for the studio Alchimia, and angry about the high-handedness of the industrial customer, turned with their grouping against the common practice that alone client about the what, were able to determine when and how of products. With their individual artistic impulses, which was still broken from a design scheme and regularity, irritirete and disturbed the Milan Design Group the international scene sustainable.

Naming and history

On December 11, 1980 Ettore Sottsass organized (then 60), a meeting with some fellow young designers (then all around 20 ), in which the group "Memphis" founded. Among those present designers were among other things, Martine Bedin, Aldo Cibic, Michele De Lucchi, Matteo Thun and Marco Zanini, and the journalist Barbara Radice. During the meeting, was back on the turntables and back of the Bob Dylan song Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again. Sottsass hit "Memphis" as the name for the new formation before because Memphis one hand stand for the ancient Egyptian rulers of city under Pharaoh Ptah, on the other hand, for the city in Tennessee, USA, which is inseparably connected with the name of rock and roll and Elvis Presley.

In February 1981 we met again, other designers such as George Sowden and Nathalie du Pasquier added. On 18 December, the first Memphis collection in Milan was presented. In 1988, the Memphis group disbanded as the popularity under the negative influence of many bad copies decreased noticeably.

Especially in Germany, the professional design scene back then was influenced mainly by graduates of the Ulm School of Design, designers pushed the " wrong path " of "Memphis" at first to pure horror. However, after the first phase of bitter rejection of some ex - Ulmer tried a cautious approach, in which they used the elementary shapes and colors shock in a weakened form for your own designs. On the other hand, encouraged "Memphis" a whole generation of young German designers who also alternative content, investigated as a new German design production and sales forms.

Most important representative

• Ettore Sottsass
• Michele De Lucchi
• Aldo Cibic
• Matteo Thun
• Martine Bedin

• Designer
• Artists Association