Castilian Bookcase by Aldo Cibic for Memphis Milano Collection
About the Item
- Creator:Memphis Milano (Manufacturer),Aldo Cibic (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 71.26 in (181 cm)Width: 61.82 in (157 cm)Depth: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:Plastic,Laminated
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Contemporary
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:15-16 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:La Morra, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4830124109212
Memphis Milano
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: La Morra, Italy
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Atlas Coffee Table by Aldo Cibic for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Milano, Aldo CibicLocated in La Morra, CuneoATLAS Aldo Cibic 1983 Low coffee table made of lacquered wood and covered with decorative laminate, glass top. Atlas, bearing the name of a mythical Titan condemned to carry the bur...Category
2010s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Plastic, Wood
- Belvedere Console Table, by Aldo Cibic, for Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Aldo CibicLocated in La Morra, CuneoAldo Cibic 1982 Console in marble, granite, pietra serena. Lacquered wooden drawers. Based on the design of public spaces like subways and stations, Belvedere takes the form of a hea...Category
2010s Italian Post-Modern Console Tables
MaterialsGranite, Marble, Sandstone
- Gritti Bookcase, by Andrea Branzi for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Group, Memphis Milano, Andrea BranziLocated in La Morra, CuneoGritti bookcase in plastic laminate, wood, metal and glass. Designed in 1981, by Andrea Branzi. Andrea Branzi, architect and designer, born in Florence,...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
MaterialsMetal
- Suvretta Plastic Bookcase, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Ettore SottsassLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Suvretta bookcase in plastic laminate was originally designed in 1981, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano. Ettore Sottsass was born in Innsbruck in 1917. In 1939 he graduated...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
MaterialsPlastic
- Lodge Bookcase in Wood by Martine Bedin for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Milano, Martine BedinLocated in La Morra, CuneoLodge bookcase with four drawers in wood by Martine Bedin for Memphis Milano collection Additional information: Bookcase with four drawers. Structure in in wood finished with pla...Category
2010s Bookcases
MaterialsPlastic
- Carlton Wood Miniature Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Group, Memphis Milano, Ettore SottsassLocated in La Morra, CuneoHere you are shown an authentic and perfect reproduction of the Carlton bookcase, originally designed in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass. The vivid colors and...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood, Plastic
- 'Carlton' Room Divider and Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, ItalyBy Memphis Milano, Ettore SottsassLocated in London, GBProbably the most iconic of all Ettore Sottsass' designs, the colourful Carlton is half room divider, half bookcase and full size sculptural marvel. Des...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
MaterialsLaminate, Wood
- Thousand Legs Large Colored Wooden Bench Designed by Aldo CibicBy Aldo CibicLocated in Como, ITThousand Legs is a colored, lacquered and waxed "walking" bench that can have multiple lives: a bookshelf, a TV-stand, or a place where to sit and tal...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
MaterialsWood
- Memphis 'Cappello' Bookcase by Susana Solano, Italy, 1989By Memphis MilanoLocated in Antwerp, BEMetal shelving piece by artist Susana Solano, a limited edition gem from the iconic Meta Memphis collection in Italy, circa 1989. This exquisite bookcase shelving, produced in a limi...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Shelves
MaterialsIron
- Carlton Memphis Milano Bookcase or Room Divider by Ettore Sottsass, 1981By Ettore SottsassLocated in Chicago, ILMemphis Milano Carlton bookcase by Ettore Sottsass. Post-Modern, sculptural, multicolor "Carlton" room divider or bookcase, designed by Sottstass ...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood, Laminate
- Bookcase by Aldo TuraBy Aldo TuraLocated in New York, NYBookcase by Aldo Tura in goatskin and brass.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Post Modern Martine Bedin Memphis "Lodge" Bookcase/Cabinet, 1985By Memphis Milano, Martine BedinLocated in Madrid, ESA rare post-modern bookcase/Cabinet designed by Martine Bedin and edited in the 80s by Memphis Milano. Laminate, wood and metal. Secret shelves and drawers. Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
MaterialsMetal