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Sept13, 2009-Sept20, 2009 |
The legacy of the Memphis movement
Original designers De Lucchi and Thun continue to shape spaces
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2009-08-30
It’s been almost a quarter century since the Ettore Sottsass-led Memphis design movement began to fade. It had turned the design world on its head with a cheeky take on post-modernism. But since Memphis' heady days in the '80s, two of the original Memphis designers – Michele De Lucchi and Matteo Thun – have established careers that have made them two of the most successful Italian architects and designers of their generation.
De Lucchi’s best known contribution to the Memphis body of work is his First chair, a spare wood chair with a back and armrests shaped to resemble planets. The design’s retro/futuristic theme was a hallmark of Memphis design, which under the guidance of the veteran Sottsass, introduced bold colours and kitschy 1950s style graphics to Western consumer culture in the '80s.
Although Memphis wasn’t a huge commercial success, its design influence could be felt during the decade in the popularity of, for instance, fluorescent and neon colours in consumer products. After the seriousness of modernism, Sottsass and company gave designers implicit permission to loosen up and have some fun with their work.
Post-Memphis, however, De Lucchi scored his first major commercial success with the decidedly functional Tolomeo lamp for Italian manufacturer Artemide. A co-design with Giancarlo Fassina, Tolomeo features an aluminum diffuser and cantilevered arm in an understated and elegant design – an antithesis to the whimsical quality of De Lucchi’s First chair for Memphis.
Tolomeo earned the designers a Compasso d’Oro award for excellence in 1989 and De Lucchi has continued to collaborate with Artemide. His more recent designs for the Italian company include the globe-shaped Castore lamps and the cloud-like Logico series of lighting for Artemide. Last spring, De Lucchi’s 2008 Noto suspension lamp was awarded the German-based Red Dot award for its innovative design featuring six moveable glass cylinders.
De Lucchi has been active in architecture, as well. He’s designed interiors for high-profile clients such as Ferrari and Piaggio and designed buildings including an electrical power station in Siracusa, in Sicily, and a hospice in Turin. At the Milan Triennale museum, De Lucchi reconfigured building interiors and designed new amenity areas for the cultural centre.
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