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Collection by Luke Hopping

Ettore Sottsass Dreamt Up Homes in the Most Memphis Way Possible

A rare look at the ultra vivid watercolors and models that kicked off the Italian architect's creative process.

Architect Ettore Sottsass arrived in Maui in 1989, an architectural model in hand, to share plans with design entrepreneurs Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga for a quirky island retreat. The result, one of his few completed residential works, will grace the cover of our upcoming May issue. In anticipation, we retrace the creative process that brought about the geometrically abstract and boldly colorful house on a hill.

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Lesley recounts their first meeting with Sottsass as clients: "We had worked with Ettore since the conception of our company. Adrian sent him a fax and said what he wanted to do. He said, 'When am I coming?'" "That was in 1989 that we asked him and he turned up with a model and this little bag. [At the airport in] Maui at that point, you had to walk across the tarmac. He comes up with this little bag, he gives it to Adrian, he says, 'Be very careful. That is your house.'"
Lesley recounts their first meeting with Sottsass as clients: "We had worked with Ettore since the conception of our company. Adrian sent him a fax and said what he wanted to do. He said, 'When am I coming?'" "That was in 1989 that we asked him and he turned up with a model and this little bag. [At the airport in] Maui at that point, you had to walk across the tarmac. He comes up with this little bag, he gives it to Adrian, he says, 'Be very careful. That is your house.'"
Sottsass labored over the project in multiple dimensions and mediums, but always with a flair for style, as seen here in a vivid watercolor painting of the home.
Sottsass labored over the project in multiple dimensions and mediums, but always with a flair for style, as seen here in a vivid watercolor painting of the home.
The home's plans went through years of eclectic redesigns.
The home's plans went through years of eclectic redesigns.
The design remained a work in progress for years. "We didn't start it until '95," says Lesley. "Then it was daily faxes, phone calls. I remember when I called [Sotsass] to tell him that we were going to break ground. He said it was the best Christmas present he could have ever had in his entire life."
The design remained a work in progress for years. "We didn't start it until '95," says Lesley. "Then it was daily faxes, phone calls. I remember when I called [Sotsass] to tell him that we were going to break ground. He said it was the best Christmas present he could have ever had in his entire life."
Though seemingly whimsical and freewheeling, Sottsass was exacting in his designs: He had forbidden the Olabuenagas from repainting the home’s stucco facade, insisting that they let it “metamorph into what it wants to be,” but the couple ultimately decided to restore its faded colors last fall, using new elastomeric Behr paints that were blended to original specifications.
Though seemingly whimsical and freewheeling, Sottsass was exacting in his designs: He had forbidden the Olabuenagas from repainting the home’s stucco facade, insisting that they let it “metamorph into what it wants to be,” but the couple ultimately decided to restore its faded colors last fall, using new elastomeric Behr paints that were blended to original specifications.