Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Bodum Brings Sottsass's Memphis Kettle to Life 24 Years Later

by Ben Deitz on March 20, 2010 at 02:10 PM

For design aficionados, the name "Memphis" is more likely to evoke the influential '80s Italian design movement than it is the home of rock 'n' roll. For those who missed the movement's heyday, Danish kitchenware company Bodum will be releasing a kettle originally designed by Memphis founder Ettore Sottsass.

Sottsass designed the kettle in 1986, but, due to manufacturing problems, it never went into production. Thankfully, Bodum has found a way to circumvent these issues, and 24 years after its conception the kettle will finally see a release.

With Sottsass at the helm, a group of designers and architects founded The Memphis Group as a reaction to the stolid, Bauhaus-influenced, European design of the '70s. Named ostensibly after a Bob Dylan song, Memphis's architecture and design pieces incorporated wild colors, smoot surfaces, offset angles and an inherent sense of fun. The group debuted at the 1981 Salon del Mobile furniture trade fair in Milan, polarizing the design world with pieces that were viewed as frivolous, yet provocative and rule-breaking. Although short lived, the group's work has gone on to influence such luminaries as Philippe Starck and Karl Lagerfeld.

The Sottsass kettle, which exudes the playful attitude inherent in Memphis design, comes in a variety of pastel colors. Design nerds can get their chance to own a piece of history this summer, when the kettle goes on sale for $99.95 [From: Core77]

Tags: architecture, design, kettle, kitchen, kitchenware, memphis, sottsass, starck, top

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular