If we haven't heard of it yet, it will definitely stay in our memory from this point on. After all, you can not pass by such a decor indifferently! Bright neon primary colors, geometric shapes and bold, repetitive patterns. Memphis style - we can love or hate it at once!
Crazy 80s.
Memphis is an influential postmodern style that emerged from the famous Memphis Design collective of Milanese designers in the early 1980s. It was headed by legendary Italian designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007), exerting a huge influence on the design of the 1980s. The designers belonging to the group wanted to shake up the design world. After their inaugural meeting, the Memphis Group set about creating furniture, fabrics, patterns, ceramics and other products in a distinctly postmodern style, combining stylistic features of 1950s kitsch, Art Deco and Pop Art. The controversial Memphis Design was a stunning style with its bold colors, clashing patterns and radical approach to design. It immediately became world famous.
Carlton bookcase, 1981, designed by Ettore Sottsass, manufacturer: Memphis
© Wikimedia.org
Forever alive
Today, Memphis Design is an enduring source of inspiration for contemporary interior designers, fashion designers, graphic designers, set designers, costume designers and more. It has influenced popular culture, inspiring a wide range of popular TV shows. Among the famous fans of the 1980s style were legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and David Bowie. Memphis Design was never for everyone, and the movement died out before the end of the decade. More than thirty years later, the style resurfaced again and became a source of inspiration for fashion houses such as Christian Dior and Missoni. Interior designers also began to draw from it.
Key features of the Memphis style interior
- Questioned notions of conventional good taste. Style created to evoke an emotional response.
- Disregard of the prevailing Bauhaus design philosophy, according to which form follows function.
- Theuse of bright colors in unconventional combinations.
- The use of bold, abrasive patterns and the use of black and white graphics.
- Laminate materials and terrazzo, which were usually found on the floors, were incorporated into tables and lamps.
- Typical of the style - Squiggles, or Bacterio print, was designed by Sottsass in 1978.
- Theuse of unusual shapes in place of conventional ones. Often, instead of rectangular, chair legs would be circles or triangles. A penchant for swirls, rounded edges and curves.
