Ettore Sottsass Jr. (Innsbruck, September 14, 1917 -Milano, December 30, 2007) was an architect and designer during the second half of the XXth century. He was a founder of the Memphis design group and a very important consultant for Olivetti. Born in Austria, he started his career studying at the Polithecnic University in Turin. He was a student for four years and tested his high talent writing about art and design with his mate Luigi Spazzapan. When he left the University, he joined the army for three years. After this, he worked for a group of architects meanwhile he stablished his own studio in Milano, called "The Studio".
Sottsass joined Olivetti as a design consultant and worked there for more than 20 years. He designed the "Valentina" writing machine (a revolution in the market), the Elea 9003 calculator, among many other different things. He is also known internationally as an architect, and he has been involved in many different projects around the world. In his career he has cooperated with very recognised friends from architecture and design as Aldo Cibic, James Irvine, and Matteo Thun. Ettore Sottsass was one of the leaders of the Menphis Group, founded in 1981 with Bárbara Radice.
