Italian architect-designer Ettore Sottsass’s philosophy was that design should enrich the human condition through color, form, and personal experience. The Milan-based design group Memphis, founded by Sottsass in 1981, championed his characteristically exuberant use of color and evocative forms—exemplified by the Carlton room divider—calling for “a new way of imagining everyday objects, for a different outlook on life.” Breaking from limitations of mid-twentieth-century modernist theory with its playful, lively designs, the global success of Memphis was the catalyst for postmodern international design.