Ettore Sottsass designed very few houses. One of them is in Hawaii

Ettore Sottsass—one of the most influential figures in the world of design, best known as a designer and as the founder of the Memphis Group—designed very few houses. One of these rare examples is located on the other side of the world, in the Hawaiian Islands, more precisely on the celebrated island of Maui. Bold, unconventional forms; dense, contrasting colors; an expressive approach that seeks to transcend the figurative and intellectual limits of minimalism and rationalism in order to restore to objects—and to buildings as well—“that charge of sacredness through which people may step out of deadly automatism and return to ritual” (Writings, 1946–2001): over sixty years of activity, ranging from furniture to jewelry, from domestic and office objects to architecture and interiors, Ettore Sottsass combined industrial design and pop culture, irony and empathy, becoming an international icon of design thinking.

The so-called Olabuenaga House in Kula, on the island of Maui, is a perfect synthesis of this vision: an exceptional work not only because it is one of the very few houses designed by Sottsass and one of only three he realized in the United States, but also because it fully expresses his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk—a total work of art—blurring disciplinary boundaries between architectural design, interiors, and product design, and merging different expressive practices into a single, coherent whole. Completed in 1997, the residence was commissioned from Sottsass as the result of a long professional relationship by Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga, founders of the American brand Acme Studio, with whom the designer had begun collaborating in the 1990s on a range of projects, from furniture to stationery and jewelry. Even today, the villa—put on the market by its longtime owners in 2023 for 4.5 million dollars (furnishings excluded)—remains an iconic testament to the charisma of its author.
 

With a surface area of 230 square meters, the building rests on a hillside of approximately 1,000 square meters and reaches out toward the landscape and the ocean, framing four paradisiacal islets through its large windows. Externally, a “collage” of archetypal volumes in saturated, vibrant colors—apparently assembled at random—and contrasting materials (stucco, metal, wood, and concrete) reprises the playful, irreverent lexicon of the Memphis Group, giving the building the character of a towering, life-size Lego composition. To protect domestic intimacy, a lush permaculture-inspired garden, featuring a small forest and a rear pond shaped like a painkiller tablet (for thaumaturgical purposes?), screens the house from the road and anticipates the home’s unusual atmospheres. Inside, the house unfolds over two levels, with fluid spaces that progressively open toward the landscape. The ground floor includes a living area with kitchen and lounge, a panoramic terrace, a private courtyard, and a garage, while the upper floor contains the sleeping quarters with three bedrooms.

The “total” interior design—conceived by Sottsass according to a single expressive code consistent with the architectural envelope, from fixed and movable furnishings to lighting, objects, and stationery—expresses a way of living cheerfully indifferent to any formal rigor, suspended between domestic rituals and “cartoon-like” atmospheres. This is achieved through a kaleidoscope of surreal associations, shifts in scale, and bold patterns: from round arches set in counterpoint to sharp geometries, to oversized elements and sculptural furnishings that emerge in space like freshly assembled “macro-toys.”

Built nearly twenty years after the founding of the Memphis Group, and at the height of its designer’s maturity, the Kula house represents one of the rarest and most extreme episodes of Ettore Sottsass’s architectural activity. Compared with other works—from the metaphysical, achromatic “non-house” for Arnaldo Pomodoro (Milan, 1968), to the aviary-house for Ernest Mourmans (Lanaken, Belgium, 1999), and the more playful American experiments of the Wolf House (Ridgway, Colorado, 1989) and the Kelley House (Palo Alto, United States, 2001)—this project pushes the concept of architecture as a “habitable object” to its limits, and space as a narrative device that weaves together pragmatism and inspiration. A major exhibition dedicated to the genius of Ettore Sottsass is currently on view at the Triennale di Milano until February 15, 2026. Curated by his partner Barbara Radice and titled Ettore Sottsass – Mise en scène, the exhibition presents around 1,200 black-and-white and color photographs taken between 1976 and 2007, staging fragments of the couple’s public and private life around the world, between work and leisure, vision and everyday life.

Opening image: The house designed by Ettore Sottsass in Hawaii - Credit Realtor