SAFNAT 2+7 telephone designed by Marcello Nizzoli, made by SAFNAT, Italy, 1958
Object No. 2005/91/1
The SAFNAT 2 + 7 telephone was designed by Marcello Nizzoli in 1958. Nizzoli is most renowned for his design consultancy work with Olivetti (commenced around 1939) and the Museum already has examples of his industrial product design for that company. Nizzoli's design's for Olivetti until the late 1950s were regarded by the Italian design cognoscenti as the epitome of Italian functionalist design which sought to widen the role of industrial design within companies to encompass all aspects of product development from concept onwards, to strive in the achievement of a design devoid of ornament and to produce items for the consumption of the masses. The 2+7 SAFNAT telephone reflects this approach to design. Campbell Bickerstaff, 2005
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Summary
Object Statement
Telephone, SAFNAT 2+7, cellulose acetate / rubber / metal / paper, designed by Marcello Nizzoli, made by SAFNAT, Italy, 1958
Physical Description
A blue desk telephone with facility to operate within a small branch exchange of six local telephones. In profile the height of the handset does not exceed that of the dial. There are two banks of red and white buttons on the telephone which give the telephone an anthropomorphic form. Attached by a black cord to the telephone is a connector box with wiring and diagram in the same blue cover as the telephone. Two labels from the connector box are separate.
DIMENSIONS
Height
100 mm
Width
230 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Marcello Nizzoli, designer of the telephone, was involved in various avant garde movements, a skilled painter, graphic artist, architect, industrial designer and exhibit architect. The son of the founder of the Olivetti Company Adriano Olivetti was enamored by the Modern Movement graphic style and hired a Bauhaus graduate Xanti Schawinsky and was introduced to his peers including Nizzoli. Nizzoli became one of the instruments through which Olivetti was able to combine industrial design and the plastic arts to create new designs for their existing line of office products. These new designs appealed to a wider market than the established users and consumers of office products. Their sculptured forms were sought as solutions and devices for small businesses and domestic use. The telephone was manufactured by SAFNAT, Italy in 1958.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 2005
Acquisition Date
24 March 2005
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