A brief exchange with the Italian architect and designer on the key elements of the bedroom. A conversation about aesthetics, taste and evolving lifestyles
Carlo Colombo
Of all the rooms in a home, the bedroom is still the most intimate, the one that only those who live there enter. It is a space that, perhaps more than any other, must be furnished in one's own image, because it is the space that welcomes us and where we regenerate. A bed is a piece of furniture that is both simple and complex, also because it is designed to house an important part of our existence. We talked to Carlo Colombo, a designer who has designed several beds.
Yuna bed by Flou, design Carlo ColomboWhat was the first one?
Kyoto, for Cappellini. I was 25 years old, it was my first experience in design. Japanese inspiration: it was a tatami raised from the ground, with an organic, soft headboard, made with a technological mold and painted with a very special finish that was elegant to the touch. I remember that it was presented in 1993 at the Fabbrica del Vapore during the Salone del Mobile.
What do you like most about this project?
The clean, elegant, timeless character. I was talking about it with Giulio Cappellini the other day, it would be nice to put it back into production.
Adam bed e Morfeo nightstands by Giorgetti, design Carlo ColomboWhat should a bed be like?
First of all: comfortable, feminine and elegant, with details that distinguish both the design and the brand. When choosing this type of product, it is important to create in direct empathy with the user. The bed is an object that must speak of harmony between form and function, giving the feeling of being at one with oneself, of being pampered. Above all, a textile bed should make the interlocutor feel welcome, a kind of domestic alcove. The bedroom is one of the places in the house where there is still a protected privacy, when I close the door I am in a world of my own…
Adam bed by Giorgetti e Gentleman nightstand by Flou, tutto design Carlo ColomboWhat makes a bed beautiful?
The materials, the details, the right proportions. And, of course, the designer’s thinking, something intangible that translates into concrete elements: that's the magic of design. You also have to think about the functions this piece of furniture can have: many people today work also from their bedrooms. So the bed has to be comfortable to sleep on, but it also has to be a support surface. It is becoming a multifunctional object. At the same time, the way of designing the room has also changed: today you have to consider the whole technological part (TV, music, mood lighting). Personally, I believe that the sleeping area can be revised with a well-designed furnishing in relation to the new evolutionary and technological stages and integrated with the bed, which becomes the protagonist.Gentleman bed by Flou, design Carlo ColomboFrame bed by Giorgetti, design Carlo ColomboThe most beautiful bed in the history of design?
Vico Magistretti, with Flou, was the creator of Natalie, the first textile bed (before that they were only made of metal or wood). For me, it is an archetype. The key is the headboard, a very simple panel covered with upholstered fabric tied with laces. A kind of pillow that, when folded, becomes an extremely comfortable headboard on which to rest. A simple and ingenious idea, like a painting by Lucio Fontana. Moreover, it is a bed with very small dimensions that can be inserted even in small spaces. Definitely a design that has left its mark.
Vico Magistretti and Rosario Messina, founder of Flou, with the prototype of the Nathalie bedNathalie was designed by Magistretti in 1978. It was the first textile bed
Carlo Colombo
