Ettore Sottsass and the Social Factory

Including newly commissioned essays by curators and scholars, “Ettore Sottsass and the Social Factory” explores how the artist’s work and philosophy presaged the dawn of PCs, the service industry, and the gig economy.

This revelatory collection of essays by leading thinkers in the fields of political theory, economics, the media, design history, and cultural theory contextualizes Sottsass’s work in unprecedented arguments that draw a line from his work at Olivetti to the iconoclastic designs he produced at the dawn of the 21st century. Divided into five chronological sections—from the late 1950s to Sottsass’s death in 2007—these essays are illustrated with vibrant images of his work and archival photographs. Deeply researched, the book makes crucial connections between postwar Europe and America, and the way we work and live today.

For more information on Ettore Sottsass at ICA Miami, click here.

Editors
Gean Moreno, foreword by Alex Gartenfeld

Authors
Francesca Balena Arista, Wava Carpenter, Maria Cristina Didero, Silvia Franceschini, Jacopo Galimberti, Sven Liitticken, Jaleh Mansoor, Ernesto Oroza, Bruce Sterling, Elisabetta Trincherini, Evan Calder Williams

Designer
Mark Owens

Publisher
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, DelMonico Books/Prestel

Pages
336

Dimensions
8-3/4 x 11-3/4 in

Additional Credits
Text editor: Lucie Steinberg
Copyeditor: Kara Pickman, Pickman Editorial
Translators: Manuela Francavilla, Alastair McEwen, Yoan Moreno
Publications assistant: Amanda Morgan

Cover Image
Ettore Sottsass, Il mio sistema personale, from the series “Ruins, ” 1990. Plastic laminate, wood. Private collection. © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Silvia Ros.