WESTSIDE ARMCHAIRS / ETTORE SOTTSASS
Magnificent pair of Westside armchairs by Ettore Sottsass for Knoll, 1983, in perfect original condition.
The 'Westside' armchair by Ettore Sottsass for Knoll is an iconic design created by Ettore Sottsass in 1983. This armchair retains its original upholstery. In 1983, two years after founding Memphis, Sottsass left his collective to join forces with the Knoll studio, creating the Eastside and Westside collections. Inspired by his lifelong love of Viennese Biedermeier chairs, characterized by plush seats with clean lines and minimal ornamentation, the collection consisted of geometric sofas and chaise longues in brightly colored upholstery.
Ettore Sottsass is considered one of the most important designers of the 20th century. He is internationally recognized for having renewed the approach to design and architecture through a spiritual and sensory dimension in the definition of domestic spaces, placing great importance on color and light. A consultant for Poltronova from 1957 and then for Olivetti in 1958, Sottsass designed furniture and began research on ceramics, color and materials, as well as figurative languages. Prefiguring the experiments of radical architecture, Sottsass emerged as a guiding figure for young, dissenting groups like Superstudio and Archizoom, who, during the 1960s and 1970s, sought a refounding of architecture outside the dogmas of functionalist culture. Between 1966 and 1974, Sottsass abandoned architecture as such to devote himself to writing and drawing, actively participating in theoretical debates. He produced photographs, installations, and conceptual projects that challenged the language of architecture; he reflected on the environment, wrote notes on anthropology, and, according to Barbara Radice, questioned the very meaning of "building." In 1968, Sottsass co-edited the first issue of the Italian counter-culture underground magazine Pianeta Fresco .
After studying in Turin in 1939 and working for a time with his father, Ettore Sottsass Jr. established his own firm in Milan in 1947. An architect, designer, artist, consultant for various design firms, publisher, and editor of magazines (including Casabella during the 1970s), Sottsass continually developed his practice at the intersection of disciplines. Winner of numerous awards (he received the Italian Compasso d'Oro four times), and a participant in many international exhibitions (including Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at MoMA in New York in 1972), Sottsass's work is now represented in the collections of major museums. He co-founded the groups Global Tools (1973), Alchimia (1976), and Memphis (1981), and in 1982 founded Studio Sottsass Associati.
Designer: Ettore Sottsass
Publisher: Knoll
Dimensions: 96 cm x 39 cm x 74 cm