Libertarian and Anti-functionalist: What Is the Memphis Design Movement?

Far from the US state of Tennessee, the Memphis movement emerged in Milan in the 1980s and revolutionized design. Its gaudy colors, exaggerated patterns and conflicting prints were intended to overturn the minimalism status quo of the time, also contradicting the functionalist design postulated by the Bauhaus with its purely aesthetic and ornamental forms.

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Led by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass, the collective called itself Grupo Memphis in honor of Bob Dylan’s song Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, which was played repeatedly at early meetings. However, it is in the ambiguous meaning of the word that the group’s real intention lies: Memphis can mean both the North American city and the capital of Egypt. An ambivalence that is later seen in the group’s controversial works of philosophy.

When leaving music for the history of architecture, the semantic chaos that characterizes the works was determined by the profusion of identities and references that its members carried. Influences that came from India, from the colors of Guatemalan cemeteries, from Japanese television, from the plastic laminates in bars on the outskirts of Milan, among many others. Related to the postmodern, the movement, with its bold and screaming compositions, shaped the parody “less is a bore”, by Robert Venturi.

Under this concept, numerous products such as furniture, objects, fabrics, patterns, ceramics were created in a postmodern style that also mixed traces of Kitsch, Art Deco and Pop Art. One of the most emblematic pieces of the movement is the “Carlton”, a shelf that raises the question: why do book shelves need to be the same as all the others? As a “domestic artifact”, the piece’s deconstructed shapes and colorful planes mock the aesthetic codes in force at the time, stating that the object didn’t have to be just functional, it was the protagonist.

The group’s official debut was in 1981 with 55 pieces exhibited at the famous Salone del Mobile in Milan. Within the group’s libertarian philosophy, the objects presented mixed different materialities, such as ceramics, metal and cheap plastic laminates, creating shapes that ranged between geometric and organic designs. An exaggerated composition that did not pass unscathed from comments and criticisms that claimed that the works were an affront to what was considered beautiful. Researcher Bertrand Pellegrin joked years later that the move was a “forced marriage between Bauhaus and Fischer Price.” However, despite the negative reception, the Memphis movement’s new approach to design, characterized by creativity and humor, crossed over into the 1980s.

After seven years of existence, in 1988, the group disbanded, and in 1985 its founder Ettore Sottsass had abandoned the movement, disturbed by the media circus that was created around him. Despite its short existence, Memphis left a fundamental legacy for the history of architecture and design and today, more than 30 years later, it is experiencing a curious resurgence.

In 2011, the movement was revived in organza skirts with shiny cubic pieces from a Christian Dior collection, which a few years later returned to influence architectural interior projects around the world. Surrendering to gaudy curves, vibrant colors and exaggerated compositions, Google’s Amsterdam Headquarters and Esquire Office in India are examples of projects that show the global trend of Memphis’ resurgence.

By prioritizing art, the Memphis movement attributed aesthetic and emotional value to design with references that border on the fantastic. In its fearless mixture of styles, it created its own approach,attractive and controversial at the same time, that broke the rules in force at the time and that even today brings boldness to everyday life. In this sense, serving as a reference for contemporary projects, Memphis assumes its original intention to provoke an emotional response in people, whether touching the creative chaos of a company or the hustle of a morning in the kitchen at home. Ambiguous and striking sensations as the movement’s name itself.