Originally published in Domus 475/March 1969
Due nuove macchine per scrivere
[Two New Typewriters]
Olivetti Valentine
designer: Ettore Sottsass Jr.
collaborator: Perry A. King
A new portable, red and made of ABS. The case is
a bucket into which you put the
typewriter, and the handle is attached
to the machine and not to the
bucket; you thus carry the machine
with the bucket attached to it.
Red Valentine
In 1969, Olivetti launched a fiery red portable typewriter which quickly became so iconic that it was already part of MoMA's permanent collection by 1971.
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- 25 August 2011
The general idea is that a portable typewriter is no longer a special object, but an everyday tool like a pencil, a biro or something of the sort.
The design takes this new situation into consideration and attempts to get rid of all the more or less traditional features of the object as status symbol, aiming instead at providing as smooth-operating and normal an instrument as possible.
The general idea is that a portable typewriter is no longer a special object, but an everyday tool like a pencil.
Olivetti Studio 45
designer: Ettore Sottsass Jr.
collaborator: Hans von Klier
A new handy typewriter,
"crossbreeding" between a
portable and an office model, intended
for professional people or offices
in which the machine is not subject
to heavy and continuous use.
Like
the Valentine, it is made of ABS and
has a case also in ABS.
The design is intended to provide a machine as compact and solid as a stone, so that its form can be seen at a glance, it can be picked up and moved easily, and will fit among the other objects in any environment. It is produced in bluish-green which is a traditional colour for office equipment. The case is in the same green as the machine and its interior is yellowish-green, so that when you open it the typewriter seems to be fitted inside as snugly as the stone in an apricot.