Gio Ponti
“The most resistant element is neither cement, wood, stone, steel, nor glass. The most resistant material in construction is art”. (Gio Ponti)
“Woe to the machine that confesses to the exertion it has to make as it works. In machines as in men, we appreciate the hermetically-sealed organic function – that is, work as skill, effort as elegance”. (Gio Ponti)
Architect, designer, artist, interior decorator, intellectual and professor, Gio Ponti was unquestionably one of the most prominent figures in the panorama of 20th century Italian design, and one of the most important and influential personages from the last century who inspired all the new generations of designers.
He was a multifaceted personality able to solve and face the theme of living with great mastery, dealing with it from all perspectives and on all scales, bringing a breath of fresh air and ideological innovation as well.
His spaces emerged from a fusion of architecture, interiors and decorating in a single element, a state of equilibrium that drew inspiration and arose from daily life, in the profound structure of a design that attempted to fulfil the function it was meant to perform, focusing on functionality, the movements and details of the residential space as no one had before him.
Gio Ponti was born in Milan in November 1891. After receiving his initial training at classical lyceum, he approached design enrolling in the Polytechnic University of Milan where he attended the faculty of architecture. He received his degree immediately after the end of the First World War in 1921.
His talents as an innovator, lover of art and craftsmanship were immediately noticed and requested by the manufacturer Richard Ginori. The company hired him to renew the collection of ceramics they produced and this enormously successful collaboration continued for more than 20 years until 1938.
He opened his first architecture firm with architect Emilio Lancia in 1927, with which he immediately began to explore in depth the theme of living and “Italianness”, creating a unique style that emerged from a perfect fusion of all the scales, from architectural space to meticulous decorating details.
In 1928, he devoted himself to creating a new magazine with Gianni Mazzocchi, Domus, serving as director for practically his entire life. Still one of the most important and recognized in the industry, this magazine became a tool of innovation with which he presented and diffused the new ideas that were being consolidated on the architectural scene of the day.
Owing to this, he came into contact with the most famous names in the field in those years including Charles and Ray Eames and Bernard Rudofsky who gradually and inevitably influenced his designs.
Gio Ponti was now a prominent figure. The Milan Polytechnic assigned him a professorship as university professor in 1936, and in the following years he emerged at the forefront of the changes made in the industry, founding the Milan Triennial in 1930 and the Compasso d'Oro award in 1954.
He started up a new design studio with Fornaroli and Rosselli in 1952. This competitive collaboration sparked great initiatives of renewal in architecture and design which led him to establish himself internationally on increasingly higher levels.
Throughout his successful career, Gio Ponti dealt with design, creating countless furnishing elements arising from collaborations with important companies in the industry. His products are still today considered authentic design icons; their unique appeal transcends the historical moment in which they were created.
Various leading Made in Italy brands in the world market them including: Richard Ginori, Cassina, Molteni&C, Poltrona Frau, Gubi, Amini, Venini, Artemide, and Fontana Arte.
