Falling down the back of the sofa upon death (you’ll miss me as gamerunner when I’m gone), Luigi Colani actually carked it – and was reported widely on – in September. But he’s here on the DDP now. German-born but (very) Italian of blood, Colani was one of the design world’s true mavericks. Cutting a playboy-esque figure with his cigar/shades/’tache combo, he created works that were way ahead of their time – and perhaps even ahead of our current time. Trucks that seemed to be 90% windshield, radical redesigns of Lambourghinis and BMWs (that neither company asked him for) and a 1,000-passenger jet plane. There was stuff that has already come to pass: his work for Canon in the 80s set the standard for the following three decades of camera design, both digital and film. His work with Sony did likewise for headphones.
Luigi Colani
2 August 1928 – 16 September 2019
Died aged 91 (unique pick)