Peter (Designandfun): What do you collect?

Alistair: I collect products designed by Professor Luigi Colani. I also collect articles and books about his designs.

Peter: How did you get started with collecting?

Alistair: I have been interested in industrial product design from quite a young age. 
It was about 25 years ago that I first discovered Colani's designs, I became aware of a German designer with a cult status amongst design students. The first Colani designed product I bought were the SONY headphones he designed
in 1984. Colani was and still is practically unknown in the UK and it was very difficult to find out anything about his designs until the widespread use of the Internet. He is rarely mentioned in English language design books. I really like his sculptural approach to design which is in total contrast to German functionalism.

Peter: When you got that headphones, did you right away think, that you want to know more about the Designer, or came this thought with using them? You must have been very young then, why did you pick that special headphones?

Alistair: I bought the headphones because they were designed by Colani. I knew a bit about Colani and they were the first Colani product that I had ever seen in the UK! I was not disappointed, and was delighted by the clever folding design and sculptural shape.

Peter: After so many years collecting Luigi Colani, you must be some sort of an expert of his work. Are there "specialists" of his work that you can look up to, and maybe ask, or are you dependent on your own research and knowledge?

Alistair: I am not aware of any Colani "experts" apart from Peter Dunas who wrote a biography of Colani in 1993. Unfortunately his book was written in German and my German is a bit basic. Colani is a very prolific designer and product designs new to me turn up all the time, many of these I have not seen documented. So research is an ongoing project. I set up an Internet based Fan club with the intention of discovering more information about Colani and his designs. He has a loyal following in Japan.

Peter: What do you have in your Colani collection? Are there any hard to find items that you are proud of?

Alistair: One of my favourites and probably the rarest design is a hand-made prototype of a thermally insulated wine glass designed in 1979, for Ritzenhoff. Only a few examples were produced to test the design and for public relations activity. The design idea was very interesting, but there were major
manufacturing difficulties (a common proplem with Colani designs!) and it did not go into production.

Peter: Do you know of any place, where Colani designs are exhibited?

Alistair: I don't know of any permanent Colani exhibitions. Though the SONY headphones are part of the design collection of the Museum of Modern art, and the DROP teapot is in another US collection. I believe that the Prof has been trying to set up a Colani museum in Germany for several years now.

There have been many temporary exhibitions of his work, and there is one on at the moment in Saarbrucken Germany called "Luigi Colani eine Design-Legende der 70er Jahre!" It is on untill 16 september 01.

< http://www.historisches-museum-saar.de/>

There are many virtual Colani exhibitions on the Internet:

<http://www.popdom.de/dd_fotos.htm >

<http://home.hetnet.nl/~colani22/index1.html >

<http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~kotoandq/colani.htm >

<http://www.planetair.ch/colani/colani_01.html >

Peter: In what kind of environment did Colani begin? Was he influenced by somebody? (I read he used - or liked- to say, that he grew up near an airport - possibly he meant, that this inspired him to streamline forms).

Alistair: Yes, there are several childhood stories he likes to tell:
Colani's parents home was close to the airport in Berlin and he has said that watching the planes landing and taking off inspired his love of aerodynamic forms.

Colani's father was a film set designer and provided the young Lutz (he changed it to Luigi in 1960's) with blocks of wood, paint and tools rather than ready made toys. He was taught to use his hands at a very early age. Apparently he also made his own clothes and a pair of spiked running shoes! He won a race in the running shoes.

Colani's hero are Antonio Gaudi and the sculptor Rodin.

Peter: He won a race in his running shoes? Didn´t the other runners want that shoes right away? 

Alistair: Not sure - he was only 10 at the time! But a few years later in Paris (1947) Colani did have a brief spell designing ladies stiletto shoes for Jourdan, Dior and Chanel.

Peter: Gaudi and Rodin, amazing, both were opening a new era in their field, which also Colani did, but somehow streamline forms were already used by Marcello Nizzoli, ages before though, Colani in a time, when it was completely new again. Did they have anything in common?

Alistair: Many of Nizzoli designs are streamlined, but I would not describe tham as organic as they have a "high tech" look about them. Colani designs are very sculptural and streamlined, but what is unique about the Colani approach is his theory of biodesign. BioDesign is really a form of ergonomics, but done by a trained sculptor rather than by a scientist with a ruler and compass. Colani believes that man made products should copy the lessons learnt from nature, and that machines should fit the human body rather than the other way round. Interestingly many of his "hand held" product designs (such as his drinking glasses or watches) are asymmetric just like a hand is.
Streamlining and organic design move in and out of fashion, but Colani has stuck with his ideas for over half a century.

Peter: What would you consider as Colani´s most important designs?

Alistair: I think Colani would like to be remembered for his lightweight and aerodynamic car and lorry designs.
However I think he is more likely to be remembered for the design "icons" he created such as:

DROP teapot
Canon T90 camera which revolutionised SLR camera design in    the 1980's. So I suppose this design has had the most impact.
Zocker plastic chair


My "top ten" favourite Colani designed products are:

1. Bresser Binoculars Germany 1991
2. MEGA Door handle Switzerland 1998
3. Sakai No.1 utility knife Japan 1986
4. Ritzenhoff Kiwi party glasses Germany 1981
5. SONY MDR-A60 folding headphones Japan 1984.
6. Rosenthal Drop teapot Germany 1974
7. Yamagiwa "Biobrain" lamp Japan 1985
8. SICOS computer mouse Germany 1984
9. Fabrique Nationale shot gun grip Belgium 1975
10. Messmer Forma silver pen Germany 1998

Peter: Do you have a motto in collecting Colani? And what for are you looking to get next?

Alistair: I rapidly discovered that Colani was a very prolific designer and began to doubt that it will be possible to collect everything he has ever designed.
So now I concentrate on the rarer high quality products that really show his bio design, (well as many as my budget will allow). But Colani's has had occasional lapses into bad taste / kitsch design (e.g. cut crystal glass bells!) and I am fascinated by these items as well. I think that it is important that the poorer designs are also recorded for posterity.

The one I product I have been trying to find for some time now, is an Ovo coffee cup designed for the Japanese dinnerware company Tachikichi in 1984.
The cup is excellent example of Colani biodesign, but very rare.
I suppose the ultimate item for my collection would be one of the GT kit cars based on a VW chassis that Colani designed in the 1960's.

Thank you, Alistair!