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Richard Sapper's now-you-see-it, now-you-don't

By Rain Noe - November 13, 2009

in Object Culture

Perhaps best known for his Tizio Lamp for Artemide, Richard Sapper has produced more than a few innovations over the span of his fifty-year career, like a bicycle that folds flat immediately, umbrella-style, and a tea kettle that whistles in two (unannoying) tones.

Two of his objects we like best are his TS-502 transistor radio and Black TV, both co-designed with Marco Zanuso for Brionvega in 1965 and 1969, respectively. Both objects were designed to fade into the background of a house and appear only when needed: The radio isn't revealed as such until the form is manually opened, and the cube-shaped TV's screen is a flat, black piece of glass until you hit the power button.

Check out these and more at BusinessWeek's excellent "Sappper on Sapper" slideshow.