Joe Colombo (1930-1971) took his first steps into the world of creation as a painter at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. He will join the current of Arte Nucleare, oscillating between fear and fascination for this new form of energy. In his works from this period, we can already observe a certain futuristic vision that will influence his creations in the field of design.
He began his career in 1962 as a designer by opening his own studio. It was only a year later that one of his flagship creations saw the light of day: The Elda armchair, named in honor of his wife.
It was while visiting a shipyard that Joe Colombo had the idea of drawing inspiration from the hulls of ships to design an armchair. He then created a self-supporting fiberglass structure, of unfailing robustness. He garnished this 360° swivel shell with seven removable cushions in padded leather, for absolute comfort. In this way, the designer creates an insulating cabin for his user. This armchair will be produced from 1965 by the Comfort brand.
The Elda armchair is one of the worthy representatives of the space age aesthetic that feeds on a fascination for space travel, science fiction and technological advances. We will find in this design, capsular and futuristic shapes.
Its aspect of futuristic throne will give it a strong cinematographic success since we will see it in many films like Hibernatus by Edouard Molinaro in 1969, or in The Spy who loved me in 1977. We will see it later in 2012 in Hunger Game proof of the timeless character of this armchair.
