Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass - Poltronova

Designer: Ettore Sottsass
Brand: Poltronova
Colors: opal white, fluorescent pink
Material: Glass
Dimensions: H 195 x L 100 x D 13 cm Weight 32 kg

Made on demand in Italy
2 years warranty

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Large illuminated fiberglass mirror H 195cm.
Opal white translucent structure drawing five successive waves forming an undulating effect.

Internal lighting by neon lights or LED strip.
The Ultrafragola has been presented since 2022 with an innovative LED lighting system in line with current technology.
The LED light version which consumes less electricity, introduced since 2022, succeeded the neon version which existed since the 1970s.

Installation of the mirror on the floor or wall.
Mains connection, max consumption: 230.00 watts

The Ultrafragola is a light mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass for the Poltronova brand and first produced in 1970.
He was inspired by the sinuous silhouette of wavy feminine hair.
When turned on, the mirror lights up pink. When turned off, the frame is almost white. The Ultrafragola has been designed so that the light is diffused 360°.
The Ultrafragola is one of Ettore Sottsass's most famous creations . A true authentic work, it was imagined in a single color: light pink, as part of its Mobili Grigi series. Its colorful neon lighting demonstrates the influence of American pop culture. The brightness and color of the mirror may be perceived differently depending on the lighting and layout of the room.

The frame of the Ultrafragola, which encloses the mirror, is thermoformed in translucent opaline plastic material which emits a pink light, the lighting is supported by a double strip of 4+4 meters of RGB LEDs (120Led/m) enclosed in a Opaline Pmma profile specially created for the Ultrafragola mirror, so that the light is diffused 360°.

Even today, Ultrafragola mirrors are thermoformed from the only original aluminum mold dating from 1970.
The assembly and all plastic components are hand finished in-house, as is the layout for the suspension. The back panel is made of fireproof forex. Finally, each Ultrafragola has a unique digital code, stamped in the company, on the back of the object, which certifies its authenticity and its Made in Italy origin.

Ultrafragola is present in the permanent collections of MoMa, the Triennale Design Museum, and the ADAM Museum Brussels.
It is currently very popular thanks to fashion and decoration influencers and in particular the influencer Lena Mahfouf aka Lena Situation who loves it!

Learn more about the designer

Ettore Sottsass (Italian, born September 14, 1917 in Innsbruck – died December 31, 2007 in Milan), architect and designer, is considered the godfather of Italian design. Born in Austria and raised in Milan, Sottsass studied architecture at the Politecnico di Torino in Turin. He spent much of World War II in a concentration camp in Yugoslavia, then returned to Milan, where he established his own industrial and architectural design studio.

Sottsass moved away from pure functionalism and began experimenting with designs with social and historical components. At this time, Sottsass became a leading figure in the anti-design movement. In 1981, he led a group of designers, known as the Memphis Group. This group uses colors and supports, creating multifunctional pieces and breaking with conventions. They work in neon, unusual finishes and patterned plastic laminates.

Even after the decline of the Memphis movement, Sottsass continued to create provocative works, constantly challenging the conventional practices of the time. He also created the architectural firm Sottsass Associati, whose goal is to create large-scale designs.

Sottsass's work is the subject of numerous retrospectives, notably at the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Design Museum in London. He received several awards, including the title of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1992, an honorary doctorate from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1993, another from the Royal College of Art in London in 1996, a Oribe Prize in Japan in 1997 and a Sir Misha Black Prize in 1999.

He died in Milan at the age of 90 in 2007.

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Founded in 1957, the Poltronova company was born from the enthusiastic meeting between Ettore Sottsass and Sergio Cammilli. At that time, many Italian manufacturing companies were passionate about anti-design which was in the spirit of the times.
But no one will do it with as much passion as Poltronova.
Coming from the art world, Sergio Cammilli wanted to renovate the design of housing and found in Sottsass an ideal ally who became, from the outset, his artistic director.
Poltronova defines itself above all as a place of research and experimentation on materials, shapes and new languages.

During her first years, Poltronova designed modern furniture, close to the Scandinavian style. But Sergio Cammilli and Ettore Sottsass want something more daring. Their proximity to Florence ensures proximity to the city’s new guard of art students. Very quickly inspired by the non-conformists Superstudio and Archizoom, Cammilli and Sottsass asked them to produce collections for Poltronova. They also asked Archizoom to design the new factory and program events at the head office (poetry readings or meditation workshops led by poet Allen Ginsberg). A receptacle for radical trends, this visionary company quickly became an important point of reference in the Italian creative landscape.
Under the artistic direction of Ettore Sottsass, the Poltronova headquarters became "the place to be" for the avant-garde and its experiments.
The greatest talents of the time were supported there, sharing their ideas of deconstructing bourgeois housing in order to lead a new lifestyle, colorful and far from conformist thinking.
Andrea Banzi describes Poltronova as a “Radical Factory” that assembles “a catalog of Italian design” through its collaborations with architects like Gae Aulenti, Archizoom, Superstudio, DDL (De Pas D’Urbino & Lomazzi), Paolo Portoghesi, Angelo Mangiarotti etc. …
Ettore Sottsass used to say: “the furniture I designed for Poltronova is not intended for happy and satisfied bourgeois families, but for those who are aware of the disaster of existence”.

Poltronova helped change the history of design and was propelled to the international spotlight as one of the most avant-garde furniture companies in 20th century Italy.
In 2000, with the help of Ettore Sottsass, Roberta Meloni became owner of the brand and decided to rediscover the original essence of Poltronova, according to her lost in the 1980s with a team more focused on profits.
In 2005, Roberta Meloni immersed herself in the archives and founded the Centro Studio Poltronova: a research center for students and historians, but also a center for exhibitions and publications, and began producing the iconic objects from her diverse catalog again. .

According to Roberta Meloni, “What is Poltronova if not a collection of extremely visionary objects, ahead of their time, aggressively non-conformist, full of sensuality? They were born far from the desire to be creative, opposed to the idea of designing something practical. For example, the Superonda sofa, I Mobili Grigi (including the Ultrafragola mirror), and the Safari sofa were not accepted at the time of their design and for many years only a few rare examples were produced.

Today, in a world where the need for personal space is more pressing than ever, the intensity and meaning of these pieces are finally being appreciated. The freedom to exist without inhibition is ultimately a timeless and widespread concept”.