November 28, 2007

Tobifant: Luigi Colani's Knock-Together Activity Table

colani_playtable_form_de.jpg

I am familiar with the work of Pablo Neruda. The work of Luigi Colani, not so much. I did think I'd ferreted out most all of the kid-related design from the online archives of the incomparable German design magazine, Form, though.

Then on a hunch, I searched for Colani, and turned up this nice "Actionspace for childish Fantasy," aka, an activity table & chair, from 1977. It looks to be made from laminated ply, rounded on all the edges, and joined together with comfortably blocky, adjustable mortise & tenons.

From what I can gather, the wooden mallet and dagger set was included. Which this young lad used to lop off the head of what I assume was a small rodent. He's proud of his accomplishment, and rightly so. Sehr gut, Junge.

Luigi Colani play table and stool - Form, ausg. 80, 1977 [form.de]
Here it is: Tobifant desk, made of laminated birch for Kinderlübke, didn't sell at auction in 2004 for EUR2000-2500 [internationalauctioneers.com]

4 Comments

Great Table! Any shout-outs for your favorite activity tables available today?

{argington fundy's very nice... -ed.]

I remember the days when a stick and a dead cat by the side of the road was sufficient for an entire day of fun and frivolity.

BTW, that kid looks exactly like me as a disturbed child in the Melbourne suburbs.

Hi, are you still looking for this table and stoll, I have one in good condtion

When colani designed this childrens' desk for Kinderlübke he insisted that each table was supplied with a kilo of play clay to encourage childrens creativity.

interestingly as a children Colani was not given any toys, instead his father insisted that he made his own - And Prof colani became one of the most famous designers in Europe and Japan...

Google DT


Contact DT

Daddy Types is published by Greg Allen with the help of readers like you.
Got tips, advice, questions, and suggestions? Send them to:
greg [at] daddytypes [dot] com

Join the [eventual] Daddy Types mailing list!


Archives

copyright

copyright 2024 daddy types, llc.
no unauthorized commercial reuse.
privacy and terms of use
published using movable type