Joe Colombo

Joe Colombo (Milan, 30 July 1930 – Milan, 30 July 1971) He attends the Politecnico and the Brera Art Accademy in Milan and he works on architectural and interior architectural projects. In 1963 he devotes himself to the design of industrial products, many of which, when differently assembled, are proper object systems. Constantly interested in technology and experiments in new materials, he produces a series of projects, objects and drawings that bring his idea of the future into the present. His work is the result of a progressive removal from classical styles in favour of a new idea, sometimes visionary of industrial design. It reflects in his experiments, in the search for programmable furniture systemsand modular housing programs as the multifunction units Visiona 1, Total Furnishing Unit, Cabriolet-Bed and Rotoliving. He wins numerous design awards including: First prize In-Arch for the interior design of an hotel in Sardinia (1964); three medals at the XIII Triennale (1964) (one gold for the lamp Acrilica and two silver ones for the multifunctional unit Minikitchen and the furniture piece Combicentre); the Compasso D’Oro for the Spider lamp (1967) and the Candyzionatore cooling system(1970), the International Design Award for the Coupé lamp (1968) and the Spring lamp (1970); the Tecnhotel prize for the Universale chair 81968); the Smau prize for the BOBY trolley (1971). Many of his works are part of the collections of the major museums around the world.