The Ettore Sottsass jr. archive – currently at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, after the
2018 donation by his wife Barbara Radice – during the last two years has been the focus
of a research project promoted by Università Iuav di Venezia, with the collaboration and
support of the foundation. Part of this study, that fits into the digitization and inventorying process of the over
100,000 pieces of the archive carried out by Centro ARCHiVe – the foundation dedicated
center –, concerns the graphic design projects of the architect and designer. The work of
reinterpreting the historical context of the individual projects and their critical analysis
was based, programmatically, not only on these documents but on the reconstruction of a
networks of materials which are currently fragmented into different collections. The personal
memory of Sottsass is today in fact preserved thanks to many different archives,
divided between Venice, the CSAC – Center for studies and archives of communication of
the University of Parma and the Bibliothèque Kandinsky of the Center Pompidou in Paris.
Moreover we must add to this main archives what has been preserved by private companies,
by collectors and by those who have worked with the designer. Addressing an area
that has not yet been investigated, such as graphic design, and a defined chronological
period – from his formation to his first experiences with important industrial companies –,
this article aims at returning the results of a research based on many unpublished materials,
while highlighting some aspects of Ettore Sottsass jr. design practice.
