Shiva vase, design Ettore Sottsass, BD Barcelona
Famous for its sexy and phallic shape, the Shiva vase was designed in 1973 by Ettore Sottsass and produced since then by BD Barcelona. The collaboration between the designer and the Catalan editor began in the early 1970s, following the Italian designer’s numerous trips to Barcelona. It was a love affair with a Barcelona girl that influenced Sottsass to design the Shiva vase, as the founders of BD Barcelona revealed.
Pope of Postmodernism, Ettore Sottsass (1917 – 2007), was part of the Italian Anti-design movement in the 1960s before joining Studio Alchimia founded by Alessandro Mendini. In 1981 he founded the Memphis Milano group.
Already in the 1950s he developed his colourful and graphic style, notably with ceramics manufactured by Bitossi. His productions within the Memphis group, such as the Carlton bookcase, are the most famous, but he has also collaborated with many Italian manufacturers, such as Poltronova, Zanotta, Olivetti, Alessi, etc.
