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Olivetti Summa 15 desk top calculator designed by Marcello Nizzoli
DesignedSummary
Object No.
2013/98/1Object Statement
Calculator, Summa 15, metal / plastic / rubber / paper, designed by Marcello Nizzoli / Natale Capellaro, made by Olivetti, Ivrea, Italy, 1949Physical Description
Calculator housed in a smooth, grey/green coloured plastic case, with the outline closely following the mechanical elements inside. The plate housing the keys at the front is dark blue, the keys are black with white lettering and the handle on the right hand side is black with metal screws. There is a roll of paper for use with the calculator.Marks
'Olivetti' is printed in black lettering on a metal plate attached to the centre left front.Manufacturer's label on back includes text 'Summa 15 / Olivetti / Made in Italy'.
Short URL
https://ma.as/471924Dimensions
Height
155 mmWidth
255 mmDepth
350 mmWeight
7 kgProduction
Designed
Made
Notes
The Summa 15 calculator was designed by Marcello Nizzoli for Olivetti and Natale Capellaro (mechanics) and manufactured at its plant in Ivrea near Turin in Italy in 1949.The Summa 15 is both ergonomically functional and elegant to look at. The yellow joystick on the upper right face of the machine selects subtraction, sub-total, total or number not to be included. After an amount is entered, the operator's hand moves toward the handle with the thumb setting the yellow joystick to the required position as it passes. The lever is then pulled forward and released. An amount is printed on paper (roll feed from rear of machine), black for individual amounts and red for the total or sub-total.
A knob with a yellow stripe at the bottom right moves one notch to the left for each digit entered. Pulling this to the far right clears all numbers entered. There is a sliding control above this which enables multiplication. Multiplication is achieved by entering an amount, setting the control to multiplication and pulling the handle the required number of times. A counter on the left of the keyboard lets the operator see how many times the amount has been entered. At the top right is a circular knob which when rotated feeds the paper roll.
History
Notes
Marcello Nizzoli became Olivetti's chief design consultant in 1936. That year Giovanni Pintori the artist and graphic designer also joined Olivetti. Nizzoli and Pintori worked on architectural, product, and publicity design.Olivetti's first calculator - the MC 4S Summa was a collaboration between Nizzoli and "the mechanic" Natale Capellaro and went into production in 1940. Their collaboration on Olivetti's calculator product line continued through to the early 1960s.
Source
Credit Line
Purchased 2013Acquisition Date
2 October 2013Cite this Object
Harvard
Olivetti Summa 15 desk top calculator designed by Marcello Nizzoli 2020, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 21 April 2021, <https://ma.as/471924>Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/471924 |title=Olivetti Summa 15 desk top calculator designed by Marcello Nizzoli |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=21 April 2021 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}This object is currently on display in Interface: people, machines, design at the Powerhouse Museum.
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