October 14, 2010

Luigi Colani, The Designer Of The MONOBLOC Would Like To See You Outside.

monobloc_loft_form.jpg

And if you make it back alive, will you please tell me his name?

This desk/closet/loft bed combination called the MONOBLOC was exhibited at the 7th International Furniture Expo in Paris in 1973. It is credited in Form Magazine to a French company I can't find out anything about, Cazaud, S.A.

Which is interesting because the date given for the Rappelkiste, Luigi Colani's all-in-one desk/closet/loft bed, supposedly manufactured by Elbro, a German company about which I can find out nothing, is 1975.

It's a rough photo, but we can compare some details. It does look like there's a row of pegs running down the front left edge, doesn't it? For rungs? The desk and seat, meanwhile, are different. And the cutout up top. And the placement of the closet.

I mean, it's not impossible that this is the same design, just evolved. And transferred to another country. Under a different name. Except that by 1973, Luigi Colani is already very well-known, and I get the sense, shall we say, that he's not the type who would let himself go uncredited.

So what's going on here? Was this the Alsace-Lorraine of the Oil Embargo era? Did we narrowly avert a NATO fracture of epic proportions over cross-border loftbed knockoffery?

Aud den Hallen von Paris und Koeln (1973) [form.de]
Previously: Luigi Colani's Rappelkiste kid unit

1 Comment

Cool design. I think it's a great way of utilizing the space in a kid's room.

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