Pier Luigi Colli Biography
Pier Luigi Colli was born in Turin in 1895. He attended courses at the École des arts décoratifs in Paris. In 1921 he returned to Turin to take the reins of the family business, the Colli. Thanks to his enterprising personality and desire to follow in his father's footsteps, Pier Luigi was known by his contemporaries as "the interior designer artist". His stay in Paris strongly influenced him, in particular by the great French cabinetmaker Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann.
Thanks to his stay in Paris, Pier Luigi established contacts with international high society and began importing Lalique glass from France. In the meantime, the Colli's clientele has expanded and special commissions have arrived, such as the creation of the Royal Train of the Savoy in collaboration with Fiat, or the great hall of the University of Turin.
Colli collaborated with the greatest Italian designers of the post-war period, including Gio Ponti, who entrusted the Colli brand for his Richard Ginori project in Rome, and Carlo Mollino, with whom he created the handrails of the RAI auditorium (national TV ) and the windows of the Teatro Regio in Turin. In Turin, the Morbelli architects collaborated with Colli on the furnishings of the RAI skyscraper, while the Gabetti Isola architects worked with Colli on the interiors of the Turin Stock Exchange. Colli died in 1968.
