Columnar liquid crystals have recently been developed as dynamically functional anisotropic materials. In this feature article, some recent examples of the materials design and functionalisation of columnar liquid crystals are described. Not only disklike molecules but also molecules with unconventional shapes can form columnar liquid-crystalline assemblies with nanosegregated structures. Moreover use of non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, ionic and electron donor–acceptor interactions leads to the formation of supramolecular functional columnar materials that are stimuli-responsive. Nanosegregated columnar molecular order can also be used for one-dimensional transportation of electrons, ion and molecules.