Olivetti Ettore Sottsass Chair Synthesis | 1973 Synthesis model office chair produced by Olivetti design Ettore Sottsass, year 1973. Metal structure with four wheels, swivel shell in Memphis red abs. This chair was used in office. The structure is stable and there are no breakages, but some signs of use as scrathes (see details in photos). Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) was an Italian architect and founder of the postmodern Memphis Group, famous for its colour and flamboyance. The Synthesis chair was part of Sottsass’s ‘Sistema 45’ revolutionary office system, hailed as the first truly open plan workspace without the “trench” walls of metal filing cabinets. It met commercial resistance – funnily enough his office LSD dispensers didn’t catch on. This desk chair for Olivetti is made from ABS plastic beautifully coloured in an oxblood red also known as the Memphis colour. The chair is featured in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.