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Joe Colombo's own show-home

'The house of a VIP designer' was the original title of this article introducing his apartment 'manifesto' in 1971.

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  • 01 September 2011

Originally published in Domus 494/January 1971

This is the house that Joe Colombo created for himself and his wife. A house-prototype. A house for entertaining and showing. In which Colombo experiments, and illustrates, his inventiveness.

What impassioned him here is the idea of the two large 'machines' for sleeping and eating; he transformed the two 'zones' of the house into two 'objects,' two pieces of equipment that can be placed in a single environment.

Dramatically evident but secret, the folding bed is sealed like a capsule and the revolving table is 'hidden.' They can coexist within a single space where the sliding wall becomes a temporary diaphragm. But these two 'machines,' these two huge 'appliances' with dashboards, instrumentation, programs, signals are nothing less than toys. Fantasy and fun prevail.

In a single space of 90 square meters is a two-sided dining element with a swivel top (a, b); the folding wall (c) can move along two paths; the folding bed can be rotated in two ways (d, e). Indicated in color are the containers on wheels and convertible seats (see photo) that can be moved easily. The rest of the apartment (closets, kitchen, bathroom, etc..) was not modified due to the existing mechanicals and so had to be "conventional."

The convertible bed ('closingbed') with a roof that opens and closes electrically has a headboard/dashboard with programmable lights (red, yellow, green) and cigarette lighter, telephone, ceiling fan, dimmer switches, speakers. Everything is powered by electric cables hanging from the ceiling inside a large vacuum cleaner tube. On the back of the headboard is all the equipment need to prepare to go to sleep (clothes hangers, mirror, shelves, etc.) and even a thermometer, a barometer, a hygrometer—for getting ready to go out.

In a single space, the living and sleeping areas. On the ceiling, the track for the sliding wall.

To enhance playfulness with mirror effects is the large sliding wall in chromed plastic supported by a track on the ceiling with a "switch" (this time, hand-operated) that can isolate one part of the space or open the entire space, separated from the entrance. The second machine, a container/dining space/bar/pipe-holder ('rotoliving') is a 'place to eat' in which the table top is a swiveling semi-circular plane (the rotating cylindrical base is the bar) with a small plate-warmer set in the center. Because we live in a civilization conditioned by television, it is right that even here it is possible to eat while watching the video (which is above the swiveling table) or listening to the radio (which is built-in) or changing the color or intensity of the lights. This 'machine' is also powered by an electrical cable hanging from the ceiling.

Because we live in a civilization conditioned by television, it is right that even here it is possible to eat while watching the video.
The many possible positions of the Multichair consisting in two upholstered elements which hook together.

The walls, all white, are in plastic laminate Print (which covers the niches and 'invisible' shelving for books and objects; see photo). The louver drapes, Luvar by Feal, eliminate the windows. All upholstered objects are standard production by "Sormani di Arosio." The 'machines,' also by Sormani, are in Print. The Dralon carpet is by Tilane. Lighting fixtures are by O-Luce. The containers on wheels by Eleo. The only color is the yellow hood.

The windows are screened by Luvar drapes. Shelving for books and objects (in this corner and elsewhere in the space) are screened by plastic laminate panels parallel to the wall and accessible laterally.
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