What a ingenious italien guy!
1. “VISIONA 1″ FUTURISTIC HABITAT
Design 1969 – Production 1969 BAYER (Leverkusen)
Prototype of “Futuristic Habitat”, the structure is composed of three coordinated units which are equipped using technological advancement and innovative materials. A)-”Central-Living”: living space for leisure; B)- “Night-Cell”: can be closed and climate controlled for sleeping, includes bathroom and closets;C)- “Kitchen-Box”: air-conditioned kitchen equipped with a pull-out dining table.
2. “ROTOLIVING” and “CABRIOLET BED”
Design 1969 – Production 1970 SORMANI
Two coordinated living machines, which synthesized day-time and night-time environments. Designed in 1969, they were of Joe Colombo’s private home and were the fruit of his research into the new living habitat.
They were exhibited for the first time at the Triennale in Milan, “Eurodomus 3″, and produced in limited numbers. These two structures are a further development of Colombo’s early interest in the concept of non-furniture.
3. Mini Kitchen
Designer Joe Colombo. Manufacturer Boffi, 1963
In a brilliant but short career, Joe Colombo tried to imagine the future with a series of experimental designs and exhibition installations. The Mini Kitchen was the first of his innovative products that encapsulated new ideas of flexible living and space planning. The kitchen combines hotplates, oven, grill, refrigerator, drawers and lockers for cutlery, crockery and glasses, and even a tray, knife rack, tin-opener and bookshelf.
Colombo’s Boby mobile cart with drawers and shelves (1970) was also designed for a free space, with access from all sides, and remains a popular item in offices and homes.
4. Tube chairs
The chair comes disassembled as tubes that fit concentrically into each other for portability. The user is able to construct chairs of various shapes with metal and rubber clips, ranging from lounge to task seating.
The upholstered tubes of this chair could be joined in a number of combinations.
Retailed in a drawstring bag, the Tubo chair was an early example of furniture that could literally be bought ‘off-the-shelf’. Sitting elements created of plastic tubes.
4 large lacquered plastic (Arcipiuma) cylinders in different sizes, lacquered polyurethane foam upholstery, steel and rubber connecting joints.
5. Additional Living Room
Colombo also reinvented seating. In 1967, he unveiled the Additional Living System consisting of moulded polyurethane cushions in six different sizes which could be pinned together in different configurations according to the users’ wishes. Two years later, he took self-assembly a step further in the Tube chair composed of four ready-made upholstered semi-rigid cylinders which, once again, could be put together into any shape the user desired. The final futuristic touch was the packaging. Colombo insisted that the cylinders of each Tube chair were sold “off-the-shelf” in a drawstring bag of his design.
6. “SMOKE” GLASS
Design 1964 – Production 1969
The design is specifically oriented to the simultaneous use of the glass along with cigarette, thanks to the form of the stem of the glass which can easily be inserted in the space between thumb and index finger while the glass itself rests on the back of the open hand. This glassware has been utilized by people with limited manual dexterity.
