The Past-Future of Space Saving Design
Joe Cesare Columbo was a prolific Italian Designer from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s whose furniture designs were compact, modular and able to adapt to any space (versus a space adapting to them). It reminds us of the Metabolism design school, which created modular and adaptable architecture around the same time.
The “Tube Chair” (pictured above) uses the simple cylindrical form to make a highly adaptable and compactable lounge chair; each tube is attached with a U-shaped clip. Pictured below is Columbo’s Mini-Kitchen and Cabriolet Bed, both of which transform otherwise stationary and space-hogging parts of a home and turns them into light and mobile objects.
The Mini-Kitchen has recently been re-released by Italian firm Boffi Spa, making us wonder if Columbo’s prescient designs, which seem increasingly relevant to our mobile culture, will make a big return?
images from Design Boom