- Product:
- Superbox
- Manufacturer:
- Phillips
- Architonic ID:
- 4102923
- Country:
- United States
- Category:
- Furnishings
- Address
- Telephone
- Website
Key facts
Product description
The "Superbox" prototype totem-like cupboard was featured in the important survey exhibition Italy: the New Domestic Landscape, held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1972. A group of the cupboards, in variant colors, were included among a series of "Objects selected for their sociocultural implications." The catalogue explains, with regard to works presented in this section, that "recognizing that the object in our society often serves as a fetish, some designers underscore that quality by assigning to their designs an explicitly ritualistic quality. The object is given sculptural form and conceived as an altarpiece for the domestic liturgy."
The "Superboxes" were conceived as prototypes for exhibition, as dramatic statements stimulating debate about the social and philosophical functions of design. An extremely limited number of the red and white striped version were produced for sale. While the design had enjoyed a succès d'estime, it was too radical for the marketplace and the idea of commercialization was swiftly abandoned, explaining the extreme rarity of the present piece.
Produced in a very small series by Poltronova and Abet Laminate plywood and plastic laminate
783/4 x 311/2 x 311/2 in. (200 x 80 x 80 cm)
Provenance:
Massimo Morozzi, Archizoom Associate
Literature:
Thierry Grillet and Marie-Laure Jousset, Ettore Sottsass, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1994, p. 73 (illustrated with variants)
Hans Höger, Ettore Sottsass Jnr., Berlin, 1993, pp. 7 and 88-89
Barbara Radice, Ettore Sottsass: a critical biography, New York,
1993, pp. 120-127
Guia Sambonet, Ettore Sottsass: Mobili e Qualche Arredamento/ Furniture and a few Interiors, Milan, 1985, p. 56 (illustrated in group with two variants)
Emilio Ambasz, ed., Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, New York, 1972, pp. 144-145
Domus, no. 449, April 1967
To me design is a way of discussing life. It is a way of discussing society, politics, eroticism, food, and even design. At the end, it is a way of building up a possible figurative utopia or metaphor about life. -Ettore Sottsass
The "Superboxes" were conceived as prototypes for exhibition, as dramatic statements stimulating debate about the social and philosophical functions of design. An extremely limited number of the red and white striped version were produced for sale. While the design had enjoyed a succès d'estime, it was too radical for the marketplace and the idea of commercialization was swiftly abandoned, explaining the extreme rarity of the present piece.
Produced in a very small series by Poltronova and Abet Laminate plywood and plastic laminate
783/4 x 311/2 x 311/2 in. (200 x 80 x 80 cm)
Provenance:
Massimo Morozzi, Archizoom Associate
Literature:
Thierry Grillet and Marie-Laure Jousset, Ettore Sottsass, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1994, p. 73 (illustrated with variants)
Hans Höger, Ettore Sottsass Jnr., Berlin, 1993, pp. 7 and 88-89
Barbara Radice, Ettore Sottsass: a critical biography, New York,
1993, pp. 120-127
Guia Sambonet, Ettore Sottsass: Mobili e Qualche Arredamento/ Furniture and a few Interiors, Milan, 1985, p. 56 (illustrated in group with two variants)
Emilio Ambasz, ed., Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, New York, 1972, pp. 144-145
Domus, no. 449, April 1967
To me design is a way of discussing life. It is a way of discussing society, politics, eroticism, food, and even design. At the end, it is a way of building up a possible figurative utopia or metaphor about life. -Ettore Sottsass