Carlo Colombo was born in 1967 in Carimate in the province of Como. He graduated in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic in 1993 under his thesis advisor Achille Castiglioni. Colombo inherited his sense of material and proportions from his family's carpentry shop. As a student, he designed the Kyoto bed, which, after attracting the interest of Giulio Cappellini, was presented at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1992. This marked the beginning of a career focused on various scales - from product design to architecture, graphics, interior design, general contracting and communications. He has collaborated with many prestigious brands, including Cappellini, which produced the Cap Ferrat armchair, the Cap Martin Sunset coffee table, the Zigo Zago rug and the Hot Palm Springs sofa with a removable cover. His encounter with Giorgetti led to the creation of the Shirley bench and mirror, the Adam bed, the modular Domus bookcases, the Ago oval table, the Charlotte walnut sideboard and sideboard, the Town modular wardrobe and TV cabinet, the Frame wood valet stand, Aldìa furniture (tables, sofas, armchairs and garden tables), the Ago and Vittoria sofas, the Skyline sideboard and sofas, and the Adam dormeuse.
Carlo Colombo's work is characterisd by the synthesis of form and function exemplified in the products designed for Flexform, (the Jeremy wood and glass cupboard, the Isabel stool, Alison outdoor sofas, the Clarke and Gustav coffee tables and the Isabel bed), or furniture produced for Flou (the Icon modular sofa, the Gentleman furniture line, the Koi double bed) and Gallotti&Radice (the Kumi ash cupboard, the Tama display cabinet with integrated lighting, the Chloé glass and mirror screen). In the bathroom world, he has collaborated with Antonio Lupi Design on the Baìa and Epoque bathtubs, the Bespoke complete bathroom furniture, the Bikappa mixers, the Albume Bolo Rovere washbasin, the Panta Rei modular washbasin unit and a line of concrete garden pots. The domestic dimension is a fertile field of experimentation for Colombo, as seen in furnishings produced for Poliform (the Bigger coffee table, the Sintesi wall unit, the Twelve and Trail kitchens) and kitchens designed for Rossana (the Isola monobloc, a reinterpretation of a historic model from the late 1960s also exhibited at MoMA in New York).
He has been teaching design since 2011 at the De Tao Masters Academy in Beijing. Colombo has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Designer of the Year in 2014; the Elle Deco International Design Award in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2016; the Good Design Award from the European Centre for Architecture Art Design in 2009; the Red Dot Design Award in 2012; and Best of the Best in 2014. That same year, he won the Interior Innovation Award, the London Design Award and the IF Design Award. In 2013, together with Paolo Colombo, he founded A++ with offices in Lugano, Zurich, Miami and Tehran. The multidisciplinary firm works on large-scale projects and employs over one hundred people worldwide, promoting Made-in-Italy values and environmental sustainability.
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