JOE COLOMBO (Milan, 1930-1971) for ZANOTTA. Pair of "Birillo" stools, 1970s. Chromed metal and plastic. White vinyl seat. Designer's and manufacturer's stamp on base. In good condition. Measurements: 105 x 43 x 44 cm. The Birillo stool was designed by Joe Colombo and chosen by the acclaimed film director Ridley Scott as a space-age inspired stool on the set of Blade Runner. The combination of modern materials for the time (plastic and steel derivatives) made it a completely new model. Architect and designer Cesare Colombo, nicknamed "Joe" Colombo, was an artist, architect, furniture, product and interior designer who was central to Italian design in the 1960s. Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he devoted himself, among other things, to painting, sculpture and drawing, skills that would serve him to develop his career as a designer by setting up his own studio in 1962. Throughout the 1960s he collaborated with major publishers such as Kartell, O-Luce and Zanotta. Many of his works are still exhibited in museums around the world and the artist is the subject of regular retrospectives, studies and exhibitions. During the 1960s, the designer worked mainly on the creation of furniture that stood out for being easily modular, flexible and practical, as is the case with these chairs, which can be transported and adapted to the needs of their user. He focused on a global design, where the elements of the furniture transcend space and architecture. In this way, Colombo moves towards a form of design that helps the user to save space and time. Some of the Italian designer's most famous works are the "Elda" armchair (1963), the "Continental Library" (1965), the "Universal" (1967) and "Tube" chairs (1969) and the "Chariot Boby" (1969). His career and achievements led him to take part in the 14th Milan Triennale, exhibiting some of his interior design proposals. In 1964 he won the gold medal at the Milan Triennale with the acrylic table lamp, which is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Philadelphia. In 1972, shortly after his death, his overall furniture project was shown in the exhibition "Italia: The New Domestic Landscape" held at MOMA in New York, realised by ELCO - FIARM, Boffi, Ideal - Standard, with the help of Sormani. In 1984, a retrospective of his work was held at the Villeneuve Museum of Modern Art. Subsequently, in 2005, the Milan Triennale hosted the retrospective Joe Colombo Inventing the Future.