Design, Fashion & Architecture Exhibitions
Ettore Sottsass: When Magic Begins
Jun 23 – Oct 4, 10:00–18:00 · Artizon Museum, Chuo · Tokyo
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Dates
- Jun 23 – Oct 4, 2026, 10:00–18:00
About this event
SummaryA comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Ettore Sottsass, a world-renowned master of 20th-century Italian design, showcasing his innovative and humorous works that challenge strict rationalism.
Highlights
• First major retrospective of Sottsass in Japan.
• Museum's first design exhibition.
• Showcases over 100 works spanning his early to late periods.
• Features furniture, industrial design, and conceptual works.
• Highlights his founding of the Memphis Group in 1981.
• Includes collaboration menu and exclusive merchandise.
• Special pricing for limited-quantity tickets.
• Located just a 5-minute walk from Tokyo Station.
Details
Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was a visionary who worked along the boundaries between art, design, and everyday life. Rising to prominence in the 1950s through his groundbreaking work for Olivetti, he redefined industrial design by infusing functional objects with emotion, symbolism, and wit. In 1981, he formed the international design group "Memphis," which became incredibly popular with its innovative designs often described as postmodern. Sottsass questioned the pursuit of excessive rationality and sought to restore a sense of freedom and vitality to people's lives. Through his innovative and humorous designs, he aimed to illuminate the lives, experiences, and even the destinies of modern people. The exhibition draws from the Ishibashi Foundation's extensive collection, bringing together 112 works that trace Sottsass's lifelong challenge to strict rationalism and his belief that design should reflect the emotional and spiritual dimensions of human life. Humour, colour, and sensuality emerge as tools with which he sought to illuminate the lived experiences, desires, and contradictions of modern society.
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