Ettore Sottsass Jr. was born in Innsbruck in 1917 and graduated from the Polytechnic of Turin in 1939. In 1946 he began to collaborate with the magazine «Domus» and in 1947 he opened a professional office in Milan for architectural and design projects. In 1958 he became a consultant for Olivetti, where he won four Compasso d'Oro. From 1967, for twenty years he was artistic director of Poltronova in Agliana, where, among other things, he created Mobili Grigi, presented at Eurodomus in 1970, which included Ultrafragola. Poltronova would be the privileged meeting place for the young Radical Avant-garde, among them Archizoom Associati, Superstudio, UFO, Gianni Pettena.

Between 1978 and 1979, he participated in Studio Alchimia, founded by Alessandro and Adriana Guerriero, a first example of producer designers. In 1981, he founded the Memphis design workshop, and at the same time created Sottsass Associati with Zanini, Thun, Cibic, Grawunder, who together made architecture all over the world. The 1990s were rich in international recognition, including the appointment as Doctor Honoris Causa of the Royal College of Art in London [1996]. In the early years of the new century, he was again called by the renowned Centro Studi Poltronova per il Design by Roberta Meloni. In 2017, the centenary of his birth and the tenth anniversary of his death, fundamental exhibitions were dedicated to him all over the world.