In January 2025, a time capsule was discovered at Stanford. Inside it: 500 perfectly sealed ENORME (the Italian word for giant) phones, untouched and never opened. An unexpected find that brought back into the spotlight an authentic symbol of postmodernism—now more relevant than ever. But what are these phones, and where can they be found today, after the discovery of the time capsule?
ENORME is a desktop phone born in 1985 from the visionary mind of Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, founder of the Memphis collective. Together with David Kelley, future founder of IDEO, and investor Jean Pigozzi, Sottsass created an object that is not just a piece of technology, but a true pop sculpture for your desk.
ENORME: A Return from the Future
The design is essential, rectangular, almost brutalist. The colors? A matte polychrome palette that screams 1980s, with a bright red speaker and a yellow base. The coiled cord, deliberately retro, adds a unique touch. It’s vintage technology with the soul of an art object—meant to be useful but also beautiful, like everything Sottsass put his name to.
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It’s no surprise that ENORME is part of the permanent collections at MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design. But now, for the first time in forty years, 500 original pieces—not reproductions—are available for purchase thanks to Basic Space. Each phone is being sold for $495, complete with its original packaging and instruction manual, designed by Sottsass and Kelley.
Ettore Sottsass is best known for founding the Memphis Group, the iconic collective that rewrote the rules of design starting in the 1980s with bold colors, exaggerated geometric forms, and an ironic, fearless take on everyday objects. ENORME is the perfect embodiment of that philosophy: an aesthetic provocation that, amid today’s revival of analog tech, still speaks loud and clear.
Last week, a few pieces from this rare production were exhibited at Design. Space LA, officially marking the return of an icon. And if the idea of using a landline phone in 2025 seems absurd—maybe that’s exactly the point. ENORME is now available on Basic Space — while supplies last.
