IO SONO UN ARCHITETTO. ETTORE SOTTSASS

Over 1,400 works – including drawings, objects, photographs, documents and archival materials – cover a roughly thirty-year period from the end of World War II to the mid-1970s (1945–1975), the years when Sottsass’s relationship with Tuscany was most intense.

The exhibition opens with the artistic investigations of the immediate postwar years, when Sottsass turned to painting and drawing to transcend the limits of Rationalist architecture, replacing its rigid norms with the freedom of gesture, the force of colour and the energy of light.

At its core lies his discovery of ceramics and his collaboration with the Manifattura Bitossi in Montelupo Fiorentino, where colour and volume reshaped the language of contemporary ceramics. His dialogue with Tuscany continues through his experience with Poltronova in Agliana: from 1956, as art director, he designed furnishings that signalled a moment of bold innovation in Italian design.

Significant attention is also devoted to his collaboration with Olivetti. Beginning in 1957, Sottsass was chosen to design for the company’s new electronics division operating between Pisa and Massa, redefining the identity of the machine for work through a rigorous yet imaginative vision.

The exhibition explores the profound transformation he underwent in the 1960s, following his journey to India and a serious illness. Objects and drawings from this period are charged with symbolic and existential meaning, becoming instruments for reflection on dwelling and on humankind’s place in the universe.

On the eve of 1968, a further radical shift emerged. Design became provocation and sensory activation, openly challenging power, war and consumerism.

The exhibition concludes with the photographic series Metafore, marking the end of the first phase of Sottsass’s human and professional journey and opening the way to the Memphis period.

Visitors can enhance their experience with an audio guide narrated by curator Enrico Morteo, which offers insights, in-depth analysis, and fresh perspectives on Ettore Sottsass’s work as they move from room to room. The audio guide is available in two languages (Italian and English), includes transcripts of the audio recordings, and can be accessed by scanning a special QR code at the entrance.

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The exhibition, curated by Enrico Morteo, is promoted and organised by Fondazione Pistoia Musei and Fondazione Caript with Electa and Fondamenta – Fondazione per le arti e la cultura, with main partner Intesa Sanpaolo, the collaboration with the University of Parma’s Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione (CSAC), and the participation of Studio Ettore Sottsass Srl, Fondazione Vittoriano Bitossi, Centro Studi Poltronova per il Design, and Museo Casa Mollino, educational partner IED, media partner Domus, mobility partner AT– Autolinee Toscane, and the support of the companies in Pistoia Musei’s Corporate Membership program (ANCE Toscana Nord, CMSA Società Cooperativa Muratori Sterratori e Affini, Confcommercio Pistoia e Prato, Conad Nord Ovest, Consorzio Leonardo Servizi e Lavori, Del Pinto Studio Legale e Associati, Diddi Dino & Figli, D.R.E.Am. Italia, El.En, Fabo Tape Solutions, Florence One, Formitalia, Tosco Data, Vannucci Piante).