George James Sowden (b. 1942) was a British designer. He was born in Leeds and active Italy. Between 1960-64 and 1966-68, he studied architecture, at Gloucester College of Arts. 

George Snowden portrait

He settled in Milan in 1970, joining the Olivetti studio headed by Ettore Sottsass, where he developed design ideas concerning information technology. In 1981, he was a member of Sottsass’s Memphis group and produced objects and furniture for its collections until 1988, when Memphis closed. He subsequently set up his studio, working independently and with his wife, Nathalie du Pasquier. 

Display cabinet by George Snowden

He lives and works in an old glass bottle warehouse on the Corso di Porta Nuova in Milan. He shares this with his wife, Nathalie Du Pasquier, a key figure in the Memphis movement herself, and an eight-member design team working for Sowden Design. The line which divides the life and work of Sowden appears to be wafer-thin. The terrazzo-floored studio and kitchen open into each other and almost every piece of furniture, whether it’s a dining table or an office chair, is of Sowden’s design. There is also a payphone in one corner of the studio space that Sowden built for IPM in the 1990s.

Use of Colour

Unlike many British designers, Sowden has no fear of colour. “People are still embarrassed by colour in Britain,” he says, “they seem to think it’s infantile.” If so, then Sowden has given his inner child free rein around the house and the studio; the file cabinets are brightly lit, the clocks are awash with colour, and a frieze of sparkling fabric designs hangs along the walls of the office. “I remember when I was young,” says Sowden, “someone said to me, `Art is all about light and colour’, and coming from Leeds I just couldn’t understand that.” Now, 20 years after he designed his iconic mustard-yellow, red and turquoise D’Antibes cabinet for Memphis, he’s still grappling with the manufacturers about the exact hue in which to make it. “It’s a form of communication,” Sowden said. “For me, colour communicates life.”

joe Teapots by George Snowden

Sowden’s tableware designs for Bodum were widely published and famous, including his 1986 stainless-steel fruit bowl, whose pattern was produced by a sophisticated 12-stage stamping process. He had design clients including Lorenz (timepieces with du Pasquier), Olivetti, and Italtel in Italy and Shiznoka in Japan.  

Member of the Memphis Group

The Memphis movement (which took its name from the lyrics of Bob Dylan) was, as Sowden describes it, an eruption of “latent energy” Work was so scarce in the bleak 1970s that the collective, which included Sottsass, Matteo Thun, De Lucchi and others, decided it was time to work for themselves. “It was a really a pure statement,” says Sowden, “with no clients questioning what we were doing, we could just express ourselves.” After a few exhibits that stirred up no end of excitement, anger and interest from the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, who furnished his entire apartment with a new look, the manufacturing company Memphis Milano was set up.

Desk Clock by George Snowden

Works

His initial 1981 Memphis designs included the D’Antibes cabinet, Pierre table, Oberoi chair, Chelsea bed, Acapulco, Excelsior, and American clocks. They were followed by the 1982 Metropole casement clock and Oriental bed, 1983 Palace armchair, Savoy cabinet, Quadro and Triangolo fabrics, 1985 Mamounia armchair and Potato ceramic platter, 1986 Liverpool and Gloucester armchairs, and 1987 George cabinet. 

Source

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.

Hill, A. (2004, June 19). Design & Interiors: Our man in Milan; Albert Hill travelled to Italy to meet George Sowden, the British co-founder of Memphis design and pioneer of `friendly’ electronics. Independent.

Advertisements

Italian Design – Amazon

* This website may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost.  As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More Italian Designers

  • Benedikt Bolza – Italian Nobleman, Architect, Interior Designer

    Benedikt Bolza – Italian Nobleman, Architect, Interior Designer

    Trained as an architect in London, he and a team of 120 transform centuries-old stone ruins into exquisite dwellings at Castello di Reschio, a 3,000-acre private community in Umbria, Italy, on land originally purchased by his parents.Read More →

  • Arteluce Italian Lighting Firm (1939)

    Arteluce Italian Lighting Firm (1939)

    Arteluce Italian Lighting Firm it was one of the modest businesses that contributed to Italian design’s international success in the 1950s. READ MORERead More →

  • Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

    Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

    Antonia Astori co-founded Driade with her brother Enrico and Adelaide Acerbi in 1968. She was able to create a unique network of furniture designers, galleries, and shops.Read More →

  • Agostino Lauro (1861 – 1924) Italian Designer

    Agostino Lauro (1861 – 1924) Italian Designer

    Agostino Lauro was an Italian designer and entrepreneur with a reputation for private commissions and public buildings.Read More →

  • Ennio Lucini (b.1934) Italian, packaging, product, graphic designer

    Ennio Lucini (b.1934) Italian, packaging, product, graphic designer

    He executed small objects for the home in ceramics and glass produced by Gabbianelli and metalware by Barazzoni. He designed the hemispherical Ponte di Brera drinking glasses (from 1965 by Ponte di Brera, 1968—75 by Gabbianelli) and 1968 Tummy range of stainless-steel cookware by Barazoni. Read More →

  • Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer

    Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer

    Harry Bertoia was a sculptor, printmaker, jeweller, and furniture designer. He was born in San Lorenzo, Udine, and worked in the United States professionally. During World War Two he worked with Ray and Charles Eames on moulded-plywood technology. He worked primarily as a sculptor from the mid-1950s onwards. His sculpture was prominently featured in many…

  • Gio Ponti (1891-1979) Italian designer, writer and teacher

    Gio Ponti (1891-1979) Italian designer, writer and teacher

    Gio Ponti was an influential writer, teacher, and practising architect who was one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century Italian design. In a long and illustrious career, he worked in a wide variety of design fields, from interiors to furniture and product design, understanding the value of craft traditions alongside creating a new aesthetic.Read…

  • Ico Parisi (1916 – 1996) Italian furniture designer

    Ico Parisi (1916 – 1996) Italian furniture designer

    Ico Parisi was an Italian architect and designer of the modernist style who worked with Luisa Aiani and opened La Ruota in 1947. LEARN MORERead More →

  • Enzo Mari (1932 -2020) Italian modernist, industrial designer

    Enzo Mari (1932 -2020) Italian modernist, industrial designer

    Inventor of commonplace items whose radical politics were incorporated into their creations Enzo Mari (1932 – 2020) was an Italian modernist and furniture designer who lived from 1932 to 2020. TELL ME MORERead More →

  • Vico Magistretti (1920 – 2006) Italian architect/designer

    Vico Magistretti (1920 – 2006) Italian architect/designer

    In 1920 Vico Magistretti was born in Milan, Italy. First recognition of his work came in 1948, at the 8th Triennale. He started designing for Cassina in 1960, and from that date on his signature is to be found on many products.Read More →

  • Antonio Citterio ( b.1950 ) Italian furniture designer

    Antonio Citterio ( b.1950 ) Italian furniture designer

    Antonio Citterio is a leading Italian architect and interior designer, furniture and industrial designer. Citterio explored the possibilities of new materials and technologies rather than aligning himself with New Design’s more fashionable aesthetics.Read More →

  • Rodolfo Bonetto – Italian furniture & industrial designer

    Rodolfo Bonetto – Italian furniture & industrial designer

    Rodolfo Bonetto (1929 – 1991) was Italian furniture and industrial designer. He began his design career at the Pininfarina automobile body design firm. In 1958, he founded his studio. Between 1963-69, was a member of ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) advisory committee and participated in numerous other professional organisations. Read More →

  • Eugenio Quarti (1867 – 1931) Italian furniture designer

    Eugenio Quarti (1867 – 1931) Italian furniture designer

    Eugenio Quarto (1867 – 1931) was an Italian furniture designer who was born near Bergamo. He was professionally based in Milan.Read More →

  • Studio Alchimia Italian design collaborative

    Studio Alchimia Italian design collaborative

    Studio Alchimia Italian design collaborative located in Milan. Alessandro Guerriero (b. 1943), an architect, created Studio Alchimia in 1976 as a gallery to show experimental work that was not limited by industrial production. Read More →

  • Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee

    Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee

    Memphis was a movement in interior design introduced at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. It consisted of a group led by Memphis guru Ettore Sottass of avant-garde Italian designers. With outrageous interpretations of traditional furnishings and accessories, Memphis shocked the traditionally quiet industry.Read More →

  • Pietro Chiesa (1892 – 1948) 🇮🇹 Italian furniture and glassware

    Pietro Chiesa (1892 – 1948) 🇮🇹 Italian furniture and glassware

    He was an apprentice in the studio of Giovan Battista Gianotti, painter, furniture designer, and decorator; in 1921, opened Bot- tega di Pietro Chiesa, Milan; in 1927, (with Gio Ponti, Michele Marelli, Tomaso Buzzi, Emilio Lancia, and Paolo Venini) founded Il Labirinto, which produced high-quality glassware. Read More →

  • Michele De Lucchi (b.1951) Italian architect and designer

    Michele De Lucchi (b.1951) Italian architect and designer

    At the Universita di Firenze, he experimented with new forms of art and film. In 1973, he created the Cavart group alongside Piero Brombin, Pier Paola Bortolami, Boris Pastrovicchio, and Valerio Tridenti, which was active in Architettura Radicale, filmmaking, written works, and happenings. Read More →

  • Davide Mercatali (b.1948) Italian Designer

    Davide Mercatali (b.1948) Italian Designer

    He worked independently as a graphic and product designer and illustrator for advertising agencies, publishers, and his clients; he worked for the Societa Donchi Formart, Milan. In 1978, with Paolo Pedrizzetti, he set up an industrial design studio where he initially designed materials and tiles. He worked on promotional accessories, point-of-sale displays in retail stores,…

  • Fabio Lenci (b.1935) Italian Designer

    Fabio Lenci (b.1935) Italian Designer

    Fabio Lenci (1935 – ) is an Italian Designer. He received his design education in Rome. He began his professional career in 1966. He set up a shop for contemporary furniture in Rome. Read More →

  • Giovanni Gianotti (1873-1928) Italian Decorator, Designer

    Giovanni Battista Gianotti (1873-1928) was an Italian painter, decorator, and designer. He specialised in the liberty and art deco styles. His fashion sense has been contrasted with that of Alban Chambon. In 1928, he perished at sea while sailing from Italy to Argentina.Read More →

You may also be interested in

Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee – Encyclopedia of Design

Memphis was a movement in interior design introduced at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. It consisted of a group led by Memphis guru Ettore Sottass of avant-garde Italian designers. With outrageous interpretations of traditional furnishings and accessories, Memphis shocked the traditionally quiet industry.

51 Faux And Genuine Leather Office Chairs

An ideal office chair should provide users with durable comfort for long periods of time. Its design needs to be ergonomic, ideally with lumbar support and a variety of adjustments to relieve body discomfort during a long shift. Desirable options include memory foam cushions, mid-to-high backs, and soft leather upholstery, real or faux.

More design articles

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.