Grillo Telephone, 1965
Società Italiana Telecomunicazioni Siemens , Italy

Designer
Marco Zanuso & Richard Sapper

Material
ABS plastic 

Dimensions
W 16 cm, H 7 cm, D 8 cm

Progenitor of more contemporary "flip" phones, the "Grillo" telephone, designed by Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper for SIT-Siemens of Italy., is widely recognized as a classic of the "Moderne" era. Today, it is in the permanent collection of MoMa.

The award winning design was a masterpiece in regards to form and function. The modern shape and clever design features were revolutionary for the 1960s. The fact that the phone could be manufactured in such a small package, during the 60s, set it apart from all other designs at the time.

The phone folds up like an oyster, which was also its nickname. It flips open like the modern-day mobiles, with a dial exposed, plus mouth and ear piece. It's name - Grillo - translates as "cricket", which is the strange sound of its ring.

The dial of the Grillo phone employs an innovative solution to the design challenge of condensing the dial mechanism into a limited space, while still incorporating a finger-stop. The Grillo phone's dial couldn't employ a conventional finger-stop like the type found on conventional dial phones, but instead has a button within each of the dial's number holes, which, when depressed, pushes a pin through the back of the dial which stops the dial once its turned to the dial's end position.