Joe Colombo, ‘Minikitchen’, 1963, Triennale Design Museum

About Joe Colombo

Joe Colombo saw himself as a "creator of the environment of the future." During the forward-looking 1960s—against the backdrop of the space race and Pop Art—the Italian industrial designer sought to create design solutions through the use of new materials and curvaceous, functional forms. He used his family’s factory to conduct experiments in cutting-edge plastics such as fiberglass, ABS, PVC, and polyethylene, with the goal of creating furniture for mass production. In addition to new materials, he also explored ideas of self-assembly, in pieces such as modular tube furniture that could be arranged according to the users’ wishes. His breakthrough piece, the adjustable Universale chair, was developed in collaboration with Kartell between 1965 and 1967 and is considered the first chair to be molded from a single material.

Italian, 1930-1971