Ettore Sottsass

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 2/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

On New Year's eve, Ettore Sottsass died at 90. Born in Innsbruck, Austria, Sottsass considered Milan his home. The architect was perhaps best known for Memphis, the furnishings collective introduced at the 1981 Salone Internazionale del Mobile. His legacy in industrial design starts with the 1969 crimson Valentine typewriter for Olivetti, and he went on to collaborate with Alessi, DuPont, and Knoll. The U.S. truly gave Sottsass his due in just the past two years, when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and New York's Friedman Benda gallery presented solo exhibitions.