He died tragically young, and his career as a designer lasted little more than 10 years. But through the 1960s, Joe Colombo proved himself one of the field’s most provocative and original thinkers, and he produced a remarkably large array of innovative chairs, table lamps and other lighting and furniture as well as product designs. Even today, the creations of Joe Colombo have the power to surprise.
Cesare “Joe” Colombo was born in Milan, the son of an electrical-components manufacturer. He was a creative child — he loved to build huge structures from Meccano pieces — and in college he studied painting and sculpture before switching to architecture.
In the early 1950s, Colombo made and exhibited paintings and sculptures as part of an art movement that responded to the new Nuclear Age, and futuristic thinking would inform his entire career. He took up design not long after his father fell ill in 1958, and he and his brother, Gianni, were called upon to run the family company.
Colombo expanded the business to include the making of plastics — a primary material in almost all his later designs. One of his first, made in collaboration with his brother, was the Acrilica table lamp (1962), composed of a wave-shaped piece of clear acrylic resin that diffused light cast by a bulb concealed in the lamp’s metal base. A year later, Colombo produced his best-known furniture design, the Elda armchair (1963): a modernist wingback chair with a womb-like plastic frame upholstered in thick leather pads.
Portability and adaptability were keynotes of many Colombo designs, made for a more mobile society in which people would take their living environments with them. One of his most striking pieces is the Tube chair (1969). It comprises four foam-padded plastic cylinders that fit inside one another. The components, which are held together by metal clips, can be configured in a variety of seating shapes (his Additional Living System seating is similarly versatile).
Vintage Tube chairs generally sell for about $9,000 in good condition; Elda chairs for about $7,000. A small Colombo design such as the plastic Boby trolley — an office organizer on wheels, designed in 1970 — is priced in the range of $700.
As Colombo intended, his designs are best suited to a modern decor. If your tastes run to sleek, glossy Space Age looks, the work of Joe Colombo offers you a myriad of choices.
Find vintage Joe Colombo lamps, seating and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Joe Colombo Model #2201 "Mini Coupé" Table Lamp in Black for Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo Model #2201 'Mini Coupé' table lamp in black for Oluce. Executed in black enameled metal and chrome, this table lamp is a smaller-scale version of one of the most refin...
Metal, Aluminum, Chrome
Joe Colombo Model #291 'Spider' Table Lamp in Black for Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo model #291 'Spider' table lamp in black for Oluce. Executed in black metal and chrome, this is one of the most refined Minimalist Italian designs of the midcentury and ...
Metal, Chrome, Aluminum
Joe Colombo Model #3320/R 'Coupé' Floor Lamp in Black for Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo Model #3320/R 'Coupé' floor lamp in black for Oluce. Comprising a lacquered metal base, adjustable chrome stem, and adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminum, this is one of the most refined Minimalist Italian designs of the midcentury and a defining icon for Colombo. The dome can be rotated up/down and right/left. Originally designed in 1967, this iconic lamp is still made by Oluce in Italy using many of the original manufacturing techniques with scrupulous attention to detail, materials, and craftsmanship. The Coupé series was initially conceived as a variation of the Spider family, of which it has kept its base and stem. In 1968, Coupé won the ”International Design Award” of the American Institute of Interior Designers in Chicago. It is part of the permanent collection at both the MoMA in New York and the ”Neue Sammlung” Museum in Munich. Price is per item. Available to order in unlimited quantities in choice of white or black. The Coupé is also available as the smaller Mini Coupé ‘Model 2201’ table lamp, a larger 'Model 2202' table lamp, a straight floor lamp 'Model 3321,' or a pivoting wall...
Metal, Aluminum, Chrome
Joe Colombo 'Topo' Table Lamp in Black with Base for Stilnovo
By Joe Colombo, Stilnovo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo 'Topo' table lamp in black with base for Stilnovo Founded in 1946 in Milan, Stilnovo was one of the most innovative lighting companies in Italy during the Midcentury e...
Aluminum
Joe Colombo Model #3321 'Coupé' Floor Lamp in Black for Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo Model #3321 'Coupé' floor lamp in black for Oluce. Comprising a lacquered metal base, chrome stem, and adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminum, this is one of the most refined Minimalist Italian designs of the midcentury and a defining icon for Colombo. With a highly adjustable floor light...
Metal, Chrome, Aluminum
Joe Colombo Model #2201 'Mini Coupé' Table Lamp in Anodic Bronze for Oluce
By Oluce, Joe Colombo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Colombo Model #2201 'Mini Coupé' table lamp in anodic bronze for Oluce. Executed in anodic bronze and chrome, this table lamp is a smaller-scale version of one of the most refined Minimalist Italian designs of the midcentury and an icon for Colombo. A highly adjustable table light, the shade can be rotated up/down and right/left. Originally designed in 1967, this iconic lamp is still made by Oluce in Italy using many of the original manufacturing techniques with scrupulous attention to detail, materials and craftsmanship. The Coupé series was initially conceived as a variation of the Spider family, of which it has kept its base and stem. The simple, ingenious mechanism that connects the stem to the head makes it possible to direct the beam in several directions, by moving the dome up, down and sideways.In 1968, Coupé won the ”International Design Award” of the American Institute of Interior Designers in Chicago. It is part of the permanent collection at both the MoMA in New York and the ”Neue Sammlung” Museum in Munich. Price is per item. Available to order in unlimited quantities in choice of scarlet red, black, mustard yellow, or anodic bronze. The Coupé is also available as a larger 'Model 2202' table lamp, a wall pivoting lamp 'Model 1158...
Metal, Aluminum, Chrome
Joe Colombo Coupé Table Lamp by Oluce, Black Metal & Aluminum, Italy
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Table lamp 'Coupé' designed by Joe Colombo in 1967. Table lamp giving direct light, lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem, adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminium. Manufactu...
Metal, Aluminum
Oluce Coupé 2202 Table Lamp design Joe Colombo - Black 220–240V
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Varedo, MB
The Coupé 2202 table lamp, designed by Joe Colombo for Oluce, is part of the iconic Coupé family, one of the most influential lighting systems in modern design history. Originally c...
Metal, Aluminum
Joe Colombo 'Spider' Table Lamp by Oluce, Black Metal, Mid-Century
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Table lamp 'Spider' designed by Joe Colombo in 1965. Table lamp giving direct light, lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem, adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminium. Manufa...
Metal
Joe Colombo 'Spider' Table Lamp by Oluce, Black Metal, Mid-Century
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Table lamp 'Spider' designed by Joe Colombo in 1965. Table lamp giving direct light, lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem, adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminium. Manufac...
Metal
Joe Colombo Floor Lamp 'Coupé 3320' Black by Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Floor lamp 'Coupé 3320' designed by Joe Colombo in 1967. Floor lamp giving direct light, metal lacquered base and structure, revolving and height adjustable chromium-plated arc, lacq...
Metal, Aluminum
Coupé by Joe Colombo for Oluce
By Joe Colombo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mini coupe table lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce. Current production manufactured in Italy. Chrome, enameled aluminum. Wired for U.S. standards. Li...
Chrome, Aluminum
