Cesare "Joe" Colombo

Joe Colombo, formally known as Cesare Colombo was one the most successful Italian designers. Furthermore, he is seen as the pioneer in the field of flexible and multifunctional industrial design. In contradiction to his colleagues, Colombo started to work early with the new material plastic.

Colombo was born in Milano in 1930 and worked as a painter and as a sculptor before he started his quick and fascinating career as an industrial designer. Between 1951 and 1955 as painter and sculptor, he was member in the artist group Movimento Nucleare which was
founded by Enrico Baj and Sergio D´Angelo.

After having studied at the Art academy Brera (Milan) and also architecture at the Politecnica, he took over the store for electronic articles from his parents. There, Colombo started to experiment with new ways of constructing and producing and also new materials (like hard plastic).

In 1962, Colombo founded his own design studio in Milan where architecture and room arrangement products have been realized. In addition to several single objects like the arm chair Elda for Comfort (1963), the table lamp 281 “Acrilica” (1962) or the lamp Spider (1965) – both for O-Luce, Colombo’s conceptions of complete living areas were catching attention.

The multifunctional living areas of Colombo can be seen as a symbol of the optimistic and experimental mood of the 60s. In a decade where people had mostly a naïve view upon technique and future and where space travel was related to capturing new distant worlds, Colombo created conceptions which were that visionary and utopistic that one could think those products directly came from a James Bond Movie of the 60s. Cesare Colombo was for sure in due time at the same time also a pioneer and ahead of the times. His trend-setting micro-worlds like the Central Living Block or the Kitchen Box which he created in 1969 for the Visiona exhibition of the Bayer AG, or the items Rot-living and Cabriolet-Bed which he designed for his own apartment and also the Total Furnishing Unit visualized in a special way the mergence of flexible and multifunctional furniture modules to a unique “living machine”.

The before mentioned single objects of Colombo were – not only concerning the used material – ahead their times. While most of the designers in the 60s did not dare to use new material, Colombo saw the potential and the opportunities which emerge through new material. His stackable chair No. 4860 (1968) that was created for the company Kartell was thus the first seating furniture which was completely made of ABS plastic. Equally innovative and nowadays a true design classic is the plastic container Boby which Colombo created for Bieffeplast and is today known as the "Joe Colombo´s Trolley".

For his creative potential and even more for his enormous productivity, Cesare “Joe” Colombo was already admired in his lifetime by his colleagues. His work brought him in addition to the respects in professional circles also several awards.

• in 1964 he won 3 medals at the XIII. Triennale in Milan
• in 1967 he won the first “Compasso D’Oro”
• in 1968 he gained his first “Design International Award” in Chicago
• in 1969 three of his products were already part of the permanent collection of the MOMA

However, Colombo was not only a great designer but he is also considered as a passionate communicator and gifted self-promoter. He was always dressed elegant and when being photographed he always had his pipe in the mouth. For his audience he provided the perfect picture of a “designer dandy” who was enthusiastic about the opportunities of new technologies and the improvement of human everyday life. In 1971, Joe Colombo died way too early and unexpected from a heart failure.