Ettore Sottsass: Design begins where magic begins

June 23 [Tue] - October 4 [Sun], 2026

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was a globally acclaimed master of twentieth-century Italian design. Starting in the 1950s, he created masterworks as a designer for Olivetti and Poltronova. In 1981, he organized the Memphis Group, an international design collective. He and other Memphis members created designs that were regarded as postmodern and that had a great influence on their generation.

Sottsass questioned pursuing excessive rationalism and sought to restore the sensation of people living freely and vibrantly. Through fresh designs filled with humor, he aimed to shine a bright light on the lifestyles, lives, and fates of the people of his time. This exhibition, the first Sottsass retrospective in Japan, will display more than 100 works, from his early to later periods, that the Ishibashi Foundation has collected and introducing an abundance of designs brimming with creativity.

In recent years, the Ishibashi Foundation has launched a new initiative, collecting works in the field of design. Our collection now includes more than one hundred pieces spanning from Sottsass’s early period to his later years. This exhibition is the first major Sottsass retrospective in Japan and presents these works in their entirety—as well as being the museum’s first-ever design exhibition.

Biography

Photography Erik & Petra Hesmerg

Ettore Sottsass

Born in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1917, Sottsass moved with his family to Turin, Italy, because of his father’s, an architect, work in 1929. He earned a degree in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Turin in 1939. Then, after military service during World War II, he began his full-fledged career as a designer and architect based in Milan.
From the 1950s through the 1960s, he created a series of celebrated designs for companies such as Olivetti and Poltronova, establishing his international reputation. In the late 1960s, amid the global wave of countercultural movements and the emergence of “Radical Design,” he drew inspiration from East Asian art and Pop Art to produce strikingly original works.
In the early 1970s, he abruptly stepped away from his professional activities in Milan and spent time wandering the rugged landscapes of Catalonia, Spain, photographing conceptually driven subjects and pursuing a philosophical inquiry into the nature of “design.” In the 1980s, he became the founding figure of the international design collective Memphis, which created a sensation with its bold use of color and form. After parting ways with Memphis around 1985, he continued to produce playful and daring works until his death in 2007 at the age of 90.
In 2017, major retrospectives marking the centenary of his birth were held, primarily at museums across Europe and the United States, further cementing his critical acclaim and growing legacy.

Exhibition overview

Exhibition title: Ettore Sottsass: Design begins where magic begins

Exhibition period: June 23 [Tue] - October 4 [Sun], 2026

Opening hours: 10:00–18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays) *Last entry 30 minutes before closing.

Closed: Mondays (except July 20, September 21), July 21, September 24

Organizer: Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

Under the auspices of: the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo

Venue: 6F Gallery

Concurrent Exhibitions: Selections from the Ishibashi Foundation Collection
TAKIGUCHI Shuzo: Writing and Drawing

Ticket prices (incl. tax)

	On-line ticket	In-Person ticket (purchase at museum)
General	1,200 yen	1,500 yen
University college high school students	Free entry　Advance booking required Please present their student ID upon entry.
Disabled visitors (plus one accompanying assistant)	Free entry　Advance booking not required Please present disabled person’s handbook upon entry.
Children through junior high school	Free entry　Advance booking not required

*Online tickets must be purchased up to 10 minutes before the end of each time slot.
*Booking is not accepted when a time slot is full.
*In-Person ticket may be purchased at the museum, if the time slot is not full.
*This admission fee gives the visitor access to the concurrent exhibitions.

Art works

Ettore SOTTSASS, Carlton, 1981 (design) /1981 (produced by Memphis Milano), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © Erede Ettore Sottsass

Ettore SOTTSASS, Double-bodied Sideboard (Model MS. 120), 1959 (design) /1959 (produced by Poltronova), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © Erede Ettore Sottsass

Ettore SOTTSASS, Valentine Portable Typewriter, 1968 (design) / 1968 (Produced by Olivetti), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © erede Ettore Sottsass, JASPAR, Tokyo, 2025 C5248

Ettore SOTTSASS, Sideboard (Model MS. 180), 1959 (design) /1959 (produced by Poltronova), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © Erede Ettore Sottsass

Ettore SOTTSASS, Superbox (green/gray), 1966 (design) / 1968 (produced by Poltronova), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © erede Ettore Sottsass, JASPAR, Tokyo, 2025 C5248

Ettore SOTTSASS, Odalisca Totem, 1964-66 (design) / 1986 (produced by Mirabili Arte d’Abitaire), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © erede Ettore Sottsass, JASPAR, Tokyo, 2025 C5248

Ettore SOTTSASS, From the "Metafore" Series, 1973, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © erede Ettore Sottsass, JASPAR, Tokyo, 2025 C5248

Ettore SOTTSASS, Totem drawing, 1964, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation　© Erede Ettore Sottsass

Ettore SOTTSASS, Casablanca, 1981 (design) / 1981 (produced by Memphis Milano), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © erede Ettore Sottsass, JASPAR, Tokyo, 2025 C5248

Ettore SOTTSASS, Malabar, 1982 (design) / 1982 (produced by Memphis Milano, fabricated by Bitossi), Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation © Erede Ettore Sottsass