Richard Sapper

Richard Sapper was born in 1932. After studying philosophy, anatomy and engineering, he studied business science at the University of Munich. He began his design career in the styling department of Daimler Benz in Stuttgart, then moved to Milan, where he worked first for the architect Gio Ponti and then in the design department of the department store "La Rinascente", which was known at the time for its creative avant-garde. In 1959, he also began working independently, creating radios for Telefunken and clocks for Lorenz. His career was further influenced by Marc Zanus and William Lansing.

Sapper's main interest was in technically complex problems. He developed and designed a wide range of products, from boats and automobiles to computers and electronics to furniture and kitchen appliances. A small selection of his more notable designs include the K1340 chair for Kartell, the Algol television set, the TS 502 radio, and the ThinkPad line of laptops for IBM and Lenovo. He has won many awards for his products and his work has also been exhibited in the permanent collections of prestigious museums around the world. Throughout his career, Sapper has been an avid academic, teaching at Yale University and the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, among others, and lecturing at universities around the world.