Luigi Colani
History of Design IED Transportation Design Luigi Colani Car Designer Docent Prof. Michele Albera Student Jiaqi Zhu
Academy of Arts Berlin sculpture and painting
Sorbonne University Paris aerodynamics
“I started working with sculpture and then cars. However, I soon realised that trying to be an artist who designed cars was impossible within such a commercial industry. So I went to the L’Ecole Polytechnic and the Sorbonne in Paris to study and I became a rather well-known aerodynamicist.”
McDonnell Douglas Head of New Materials project group 1953
Fiat 1100 TV Golden Rose international prize 1954
BMW 700 the world’s first monocoque sports car 1959
“The earth is round, all the heavenly bodies are round; they all move on round or elliptical orbits. This same image of circular globe-shaped mini worlds orbiting around each other follows us right down to the microcosmos.�
Colani C-Form 1968
Porsche 959
Corvette Indy
“I am going to pursue Galileo Galilei’s philosophy: my world is also round.”
Essmann Fiberglass Chair 1967
Cor Poly-Cor 1968
Kusch+Co TV relax - Lounge Chair 1969
Rosenthal Pool - Modular Sofa 1970
Mercedez-Benz Aero 3000 1971
“I built the first streamline truck in 1971, as a direct response to the world oil crisis yet nobody noticed my design. They didn’t get the message. Earth is going into crisis because we are not reacting the way we should.”
Ford Colani GT80 1978
Ferrari Colani Testa D’Oro 1989
“Look at nature—look at birds, look at fish. Things that look good, work good. People don’t get the message of ergonomics.”
Canon T90 1984
When I’m drawing, I’m building up from one to three dimensions and then the power of my ideas, born within the process of working through the three dimensions, can be released. I feel that young designers who rely only on the computer and its possibilities are not able to go all the way; they are limited. When the computer can completely and naturally ‘think’ in three dimensions then it will be more powerful.
Colani Mamba 1999