Designer Matteo Thun on Memphis' 30-year history
Memphis, photographed by Studio Azzurro, 1981
Courtesy of Memphis SRL
Memphis was born in 1981, when 60-year-old design grandee Ettore Sottsass invited young pals, Matteo Thun, Martine Bedin, Aldo Cibic, Michele De Lucchi and Marco Zanini to his apartment in Milan with the idea of creating a new line of furniture. The design equivalent of big shoulder pads and leopard print leggings, Memphis furniture was brash and gaudy, and came in garish colours. Its quirky shapes and so-bad-its-good aesthetic deliberately broke all the rules of the 'clean design' practiced and preached by Modernism. It was an overnight sensation and quickly morphed into a cultural movement and a symbol of 'New Design'.
As Memphis celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, Matteo Thun reflects on those heady days.
Did you really feel like you were breaking the rules in the beginning with Memphis?
As with any rebellion that comes from the inside, we were emotionally uploaded. It was power in the present. Product design in the late 1970s was totally frozen. We admired the designers of Bauhaus, but felt constricted by their dogma. That frustration forced us to seek an alternative.
How did its success affect design?
Memphis had positive and negative effects. After 30 years, the most positive impact is that it accelerated the ways in which we find a sensorial design language. We are back to man and to his senses. For a long time, design was only 'visual'. Now we are ready to explore the sense of touch again.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Sottsass grew disillusioned with Memphis and the media circus that surrounded it and left in 1985. How did you feel about him leaving Memphis at that point?
All of us wanted to stop at some point. We were all working at night, as well as doing our day jobs. A rebellion was inevitable. And a manifesto only stays strong and sustainable when it exists for a certain time limit.
How does your work today compare to that made for Memphis?
Actually, the work I made during the Memphis period is only superficially different to what I make today. The principles of sustainability that have defined it for many years are still there.
Do you think there is anything out there today that resembles Memphis?
No. It has not yet been found. Perhaps Memphis was the last strong design movement. But today's world is asking for something else: no dogma!
Post Design is Memphis' Milan-based showroom, founded by Alberto Bianchi Albrici and Sottsass. What is your involvement with Memphis today?
There have been about 20 designers involved with Memphis over the years. It's a loose arrangement - a group of friends who enjoy being together. Those in charge at Post Design decide who they exhibit.
What are your happiest memories from that period?
The night we launched Memphis during the Salone del Mobile. We could not believe that the road in front of the showroom had to be closed after an hour, because so many people were on the street. We did not intend to shock at all - the opposite!
Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.
-
Our Tech Editor's selection of new and upgraded audio players covers the full spectrum of formats
Whether it’s vinyl, cassette, CD or mp3, or even sound sources you’ve captured yourself, you’ll find a suitable device in this round-up of pocketable and portable audio players
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
This Swedish summer house is a family's serene retreat by the trees and the Baltic sea
Horsö, a Swedish summer house by Atelier Alba is a playfully elegant retreat by the Kalmarsund Sea and a natural reserve
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
A new exhibition retraces 50 years of Pierre Paulin’s history around the table
‘Les Tables de Pierre Paulin’ shows a lesser-known side of the designer’s creative world, accompanied by a new book tracing his wife’s hospitality around his iconic table designs. ‘A creator is never alone in his creation…’
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
One to Watch: Brooklyn studio Outgoing gives new meaning to the idea of world building
Life and creative partners Brett Gui Xin and Del Hardin Hoyle from Outgoing blur the lines between craft and concept in experimental designs that have the potential for greater application
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Discover the alchemy of American artists Philip and Kelvin LaVerne
The work of Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, prized by collectors of 20th-century American art, is the subject of a new book by gallerist Evan Lobel; he tells us more
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Sarah Solis’ first furniture collection is an homage to art deco
‘Is it weird to call furniture sexy?’ Los Angeles-based designer Sarah Solis discusses her debut furniture line and new brand and store, Galerie Solis
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Three sleek new design showrooms you need to see in Los Angeles
Three international design showrooms have started a retail design boom in Los Angeles. Here are the stores to put on your radar
By Carole Dixon Published
-
One to watch: Casey Zablocki’s Rocky Mountain surroundings feed into his vast sculptural work
Montana-based artist Casey Zablocki uses one of America’s largest kilns to create monumental ceramic, functional sculptures
By Dan Howarth Published
-
This remodelled San Francisco family home by MEMarchitecture and Studio Volpe is a masterpiece of soothing modernity
A sensitive and coherent approach by the San Francisco-based architects and designers has resulted in a home of tactile beauty, character and comfort
By Shonquis Moreno Published
-
First Look: a domestic idyll by Lucy Stark and Fabien Cappello at the Blunk Space
Inspired by the life and times at JB Blunk's haven of a house in Inverness, a new exhibition of paintings and objects has us dreaming of California
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Los Angeles gallery Marta explores the enduring inspiration of grottos with an ethereal, multi-sensory group show
At Marta, guest curator Krista Mileva-Frank exhibits work by 13 contemporary talents that demonstrate how the Renaissance-era grotto continues to fuel our imagination
By Adrian Madlener Published