Charles & Marie

Vitra Design Museum, 21 January 2006 – 10 September 2006

Televisions that retract into the ceiling, pivoting walls with a built-in mini-bar, underground ‘nuclear cities’ – the works of Italian designer Joe Colombo could have emerged from the set of a contemporary James Bond film. They exude the spirit of the shrill Sixties yet also impress with their functionality and striking forms. One of the most successful designers of his time, Colombo produced design classics such as the “Elda” armchair, the “Universale” chair or the lamp “Alogena”. In 1971, Joe Colombo died at 41 years of age. The exhibition “Joe Colombo – Inventing the Future” is the first international retrospective dedicated to Colombo’s work.

An exhibition of Vitra Design Museum in cooperation with the Triennale di Milano and the Studio Joe Colombo, Milan