All the way from Memphis

With the dominance of ‘black box’ minimalist design in the 1970s it was hardly surprising that the next big movement would head in the opposite direction, towards more decoration; it didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Once the Bauhaus mantra of ‘form follows function’ had been reduced to its absolute basic skeleton, a quiet revolution began in Italy.

Initiated by Ettore Sottsass, this new wave of designers first met on 16th December 1980, discussed their manifesto and agreed to convene again in February 1981 to compare their initial designs. This process proved so successful that the Memphis Group was able to launch itself on an unsuspecting public during the 1981 Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Taking its name from the Bob Dylan song, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, which was rumoured to be playing repeatedly throughout the evening of the designers’ first meeting, the Memphis Group had a galvanising effect on the appearance of everyday objects.

Sottsass named this renewed, playful enthusiasm for colour and decoration the New International Style, the Memphis Group specifically aiming to undercut the dominant trend towards black and brown furniture and blocky four-square architecture. Despite the flamboyant appearance of its creations there was a serious intent behind its manifesto, the primary aim to initiate an entirely new creative approach to design.

Starting with a comparatively small inner circle, Memphis design quickly snowballed and ultimately attracted a raft of stellar names, including George Sowden, Michael Graves, Michele de Lucci, Nathalie du Pasquier, Martine Bedin, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Andrea Branzi, Marco Zanini, Matteo Thun and Valencia’s Javier Mariscal.

As well as its influence on pure design, the members of the Memphis Group were hailed as standard-bearers of Postmodernism, an artistic movement that eschewed the stark functionality favoured by the Modernists and revelled in a new world of colour, mischief and self-referentiality. The anarchic energy of the Memphis Group always meant that its creations would attract attention, a few particularly eye-catching pieces even being featured in the 1986 film, Ruthless People.

Inspired by Art Deco and Pop Art – and notably unafraid of embracing kitsch – the Memphis Group’s flame ignited the world of architecture and design but disbanded in 1988.

Despite its short time-span the Memphis Group’s influence is still felt today, as companies such as Alessi and designers of the calibre of Phillippe Starck continue to remind us of its fresh, revolutionary spirit.

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