Universal seating with the Universale chair by Joe Colombo

Versatile furniture items are in abundance nowadays. We have chairs that can be stacked, tables that can be extended, beds that can be folded up to function as couches. We take them for granted because they are so much a part of modern life. And it’s thanks to people like Joe Colombo that such furniture items have made daily life easier and more convenient.

This Italian designer was born in 1930 and died young, at only age 41. Still, he chalked up a remarkable career in the design world, creating many innovative products, one of which was the Universale chair of the 1960s. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about this piece seating furniture. Made of plastic and stackable, what’s so special about that? It sounded simple. But its very simplicity is what makes it versatile and unique.

Specifically, it’s this plastic chair’s height adjustability that made it unique in its day. All a person had to do was to remove or replace the Universale’s legs with others and presto – you had a dining chair, a bar stool, or a low stool. Colombo did not need machines to create levers or gas lifts to enable the chair’s height adjustment. It’s kind of toylike, actually; just add or remove certain parts – in this case, the legs – to come up with a slightly different looking product. The only foreseeable problem is being careless and misplacing the chair’s legs!

The Universale chair is so versatile it can be used as furniture for bars, outdoor seating for cafes, even as high chairs for toddlers. Made from ABS or polypropylene, it’s fully stackable – the hole at the back also functions as a convenient handle. The Joe Colombo web site says you can also stack the chair horizontally, so I’m guessing that hole plays a part in that too.