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Extravagant Designs by Luigi Colani

Luigi Colani was a legendary German industrial designer known for his futuristic and imaginative transportation concepts from the 1960s-1980s. Some of his wild designs included a coal-powered steam locomotive for Siberia, experimental high-speed trains for Germany and Japan, and enormous flying boats for the Soviet Union. Colani also proposed radical aircraft, luxurious cars and bikes, and imaginings of what space travel could look like with bold, organic designs. While some were never built, his shapes challenged mainstream sensibilities and established him as a superstar designer who captured the world's imagination during the Golden Age of futurism.

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678 views40 pages

Extravagant Designs by Luigi Colani

Luigi Colani was a legendary German industrial designer known for his futuristic and imaginative transportation concepts from the 1960s-1980s. Some of his wild designs included a coal-powered steam locomotive for Siberia, experimental high-speed trains for Germany and Japan, and enormous flying boats for the Soviet Union. Colani also proposed radical aircraft, luxurious cars and bikes, and imaginings of what space travel could look like with bold, organic designs. While some were never built, his shapes challenged mainstream sensibilities and established him as a superstar designer who captured the world's imagination during the Golden Age of futurism.

Uploaded by

Brandy Roman
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Extravagant Designs by Luigi Colani

Aerodynamic Planes, Trains and (more) Automobiles ...all from a never-never land of the most far-reaching imagination of the modern designers. To describe these concepts simply as streamlined is a huge understatement. They are wild, exciting, totally unexpected forms - a tribute to a Golden Age of futurism (see our futurism category). This era is largely gone... we don't see designers becoming superstar celebrities anymore, who would capture and shape world's imagination. Industrial design has become an 'apropos' feature of our life, but perhaps it lost some of its glamour and inspirational influence that defined the image of 1960s and 70s. Let's start with trains. A steam train for Soviet Russia, no less! -

(image credit: colani.de)

This is the Coal-Dust-Powered Steam Locomotive for Siberia, 1979, more precisely for the BAM (Baikal Amur Mainline). I have no trouble imagining these beasts devouring infinite taiga-covered miles, no trouble at all. Too bad it did not materialize (BAM itself was not properly finished) -

Mono-track ideas? Sure. Here is an experimental shape for the Hamburg-Munich line "HM-1" -

More ideas for the aerodynamic high-speed trains: (I wonder if Japan is going to use any of them for their Shinkansen "bullet" trains)

Outrageous Transportation Giant Flying Boat (Ekranoplan) "The Lida", 1983

Considering the Soviet love for ekranoplans ("wing-in-ground" vehicles), it is really surprising that they did not actually made this beauty:

image credit: co

e)Even larger one:This is what I call truly

adical aircraft conceptsSome of them beg the question "Why not?" (like this sketch done f r the Japan Air Lines) -

...and others will leave you scratching your head, but also - perhaps considering the thought that the modern aviation is long overdue for a design overhaul:

Cars & bikes that will re-define luxury (again More recent design for the streamlined mobile home

Horch Luxury Automobile design (so over-the-top that no apologies are necessary) -

(image credit: colani.de)

Check out this hood ornament:

More incredible aerodynamic shapes:

"Frog" - aerodynamic study for a motorcycle, 1973:

(images credit: Rolf Frohle)

Many of his shapes will haunt your sense of beauty - you can either love them, or hate them, there is no middle ground. However, this is the essence of exciting design: to challenge the predetermined (and possibly stale) mainstream sensibilities. Luigi Colani has been doing this like no one else since the 1970s. Final image: This is how our space program could look, if designers like Luigi Colani had their say -

Images credit: Colani Ausstellung in Karlsruhe 2004, Colani Trading AG, Roger Todd, colani.de, Rolf Frohle

Sexiest Truck on the Planet "Luigi Colani is a legendary Swiss-German industrial designer, whose concepts have rounded, organic forms, which he claims are ergonomically superior to traditional designs." Words fail me as I gaze on the audacious curves of these full-size trucks, some of which seem to float above the ground. First "Colani Trucks" (based on Mercedes platform) appeared at the end of the Eighties, and several variations were made since then. (photos courtesy W. Heix, NeueWeltClub and JSDI, Japan) Spitzer / Colani model:

Mercedes-based model:

Other variations:

Other images source: lkw-infos.net

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