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Memphis Milano Bedroom Furniture

Italian

To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look. Today, the Memphis Milano brand, which is managed by Alberto Bianchi Albrici, still produces designs created by the group between 1981 and 1988.

The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)

The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.

So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.

An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.

Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.

Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.

“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”

Find a collection of Memphis Milano seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Memphis Milano
Horizon Double Bed, by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis Milano Collection
By Memphis Milano, Michele de Lucchi, Memphis Group
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Horizon Double bed designed in 1984 by Michele De Lucchi, in plastic laminate, with optional cotton bedspread (designed by Ettore Sottsass) optional. Michele De Lucchi was born in 1951 in Ferrara and graduated in architecture in Florence. During the period of radical and experimental architecture he was a prominent figure in movements like Cavart, Alchymia and Memphis. His architectural designs have been mainly for office buildings in Japan, in Germany, in Switzerland and in Italy. He has taken care of numerous art and design exhibitions and has planned buildings for museums as Triennale di Milano, Palazzo delle Esposizioni di Roma and Neues Museum...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Memphis Milano Bedroom Furniture

Materials

Plastic

Ettore Sottsass & Marco Zanini for Leitner Donau Collection Bed and Nightstand
By Memphis Group, Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Marco Zanini
Located in Forney, TX
A rare and iconic Italian post-modern Donau Collection bed and matching nightstand designed by master architect and furniture designer Ettore Sottsass (Austria/Italy, 1917-2007) in collaboration with Marco Zanini (Milan, Italy; b.1971) for Leitner Interior Design, circa 1988. Scarce design, bold and dramatic, sculptural-form, exceptionally executed in bird’s-eye maple lacquered and laminated wood, including blue accents and columns that offer a visually striking contrast. Retaining the original manufacturer's label, signed, 195/88. Provenance / Acquisition: Acquired from highly reputable auction house Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. Design Signature Auction catalog #8110 Dimensions: (approx) Bed: (Twin XL...
Category

1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Memphis Milano Bedroom Furniture

Materials

Laminate, Wood

Stanhope Bed by Michael Graves for Memphis Milano
By Memphis Milano, Michael Graves (b.1934)
Located in Ravenna, IT
This double bed designed by architect and designer Michael Graves for Memphis Milan in 1982 is an important piece of postmodern design. It also illustrates how Graves himself transfe...
Category

1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Memphis Milano Bedroom Furniture

Materials

Glass, Wood

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Previously Available Items
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Memphis Milano bedroom furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Memphis Milano bedroom furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Memphis Milano bedroom furniture, although green editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 1 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 1 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original bedroom furniture by Memphis Milano were created in the modern style in italy during the 1980s. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider bedroom furniture by Luigi Massoni, Mirabili, and Alessandro Becchi. Prices for Memphis Milano bedroom furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $11,592 and can go as high as $12,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $12,046.

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