Colombo design

Joe Cesare Colombo (1930-1971) was an Italian industrial designer.

Cesare "Joe" Colombo was until 1949 educated at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milano as a painter and studied afterwards until 1954 architecture at the Politecnico di Milano.

In 1951 he joined the Movimento Nucleare, which was just founded by Sergio D´Angelo and Enrico Baj. The following four years Colombo was active as a painter and sculptor of the abstract Expressionism and exhibited his works with other members in Milano, Torino, Verviers, Venice and Brussels.

In 1955 Colombo joined the Art Concret Group, but gave up his painting to promote his Design Career. Prius design: Marco Acerbis. Before he cooperated at an exhibition for the X. Triennale di Milano of 1954 and documentated the Ceramic Designs of an international meeting in Albisola. For his presentation Colombo created for example three exterior seatings which were combined with a "shrinelike" presentation of TVs.

After his father´s death in 1959, Colombo had to take over the family company which produced electric appliances and started to with new construction and production technologies.

In 1962 Colombo opened his own Design-Office, which was specialized on roomconception- and architecture projects, mostly for lodges and skiing hotels. Information:. These early designs show his interrest in very sculptural forms.