Memphis bookshop Suvretta

Memphis Suvretta is a wooden bookcase designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 for Memphis Milano, an iconic manifesto of postmodern design that defies every convention of traditional furniture linearity. The wooden shelves are covered with a decorative laminate characteristic of Sottsass's visual language, while the structure extends to a width of 2040 mm, with a height of 2000 mm and a depth of 350 mm, offering a usable shelf depth of 300 mm. Each row of shelves is set at a different angle, generating a dynamic and discontinuous composition that transforms a functional storage piece into a true work of applied art.

The name Suvretta comes from Romansh, a language spoken in the Engadine valley, and means "above the small forest": a poetic reference that Sottsass translated into the arrangement of the green shelves, tilted and layered like a sequence of stylised trees. The contrast with the white background amplifies the chromatic energy of the composition, while the laminate featuring the "Bacterio" texture — one of the most celebrated graphic motifs by the Italo-Austrian designer — frames the entire structure, lending it a unique and instantly recognisable visual quality. Conceived to enrich a distinctive living room or a prestigious interior, the Suvretta bookcase is a collector's piece that speaks equally to contemporary spaces and to design-led environments where functionality merges with the expressive power of a twentieth-century icon.