Joe Colombo
(1930-1971)
architect - designer
Joe Colombo is popular for his creative and original industrial design production in which he expresses himself by
establishing the relationship between people and their space through his creations.
He was born in Milan, the nortern Italian city where his father Guiseppe Mario Colombo owned an electrical conductor factory.
In 1951 as an art student at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Brera, Joe joined Movimento Nucleare, an avant garde art movement founded by Enrico Baj and Sergio Dangelo. He also studied at Milan Polytechnic.
In 1953 He designed the ceiling of Santa Tecla, a jazz club based in Milan.
In 1954 he created three open-air spaces with benches and areas for watching videos for the Milan Trienniale exhibition and enrolled in the architecture faculty of Milan Polytechnic.
In 1958 his father Mario Colombo fell ill, and Joe and his brother Gianni were left in charge of the family's factory.
Joe set up a studio to experiment with product design, and in 1961, with Gianni started concentrating in depth on art and design. In 1962 he opened a studio on via Piave next to Gianni's and designed the Roll armchair and chair.
In 1963 he designed Elda, a large fibreglass armchair, and a all-in-one Combi-Centre mobile storage unit. He also created a miniaturised kitchen for Boffi. In 1965 he completed the first two versions of the Universale stacking chair which, in ABS, will be the first chair made from a single material.
In 1966 he realised Two-in-One drinking glass which combined two goblets each of which can be used for drinking or as a base. In 1967 he developed the Additional System self-assembly armchair which will form part of his Relaxation Area at the next year's Milan Trienniale.
In 1969 realised the self-assembly Tube Chair, which was sold as a kit in drawstring bags, and the Visiona series of mobile, customisable habitats of the future. In 1970 he created the Boby Trolley, an all-in-one ABS storage unit, the Linea 72 in-flight service tray for Alitalia and Birillo series of bar stools.
1971 Completed the design of the Total Furnishing Unit to be exhibited in the following yearıs Italy: The New Domestic Landscape show at MoMA, New York.
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