As an innovator and influencer Gio Ponti, architect, painter, furniture and industrial designer was arguably the most authentic voice in Italian Modernism. Born and raised in Milan, Ponti was the founder and editor of the quintessential Domus magazine (1928). He viewed himself as an artist and mediator between the spheres of ideas and reality. Ponti promoted the artistic design of industrial products as well as decorative ones from vases to glassware and lighting.
The Dormitio Lounge Chair was designed in the fifties for those returning, wearily, from the Benedictine abbey of San Pietro – Civate, Italy.
Armchair Model 803 from Ponti’s Mid-Century upholstered series, Italy, 1954 with walnut legs and wool upholstery.
Gio Ponti was drawn to ceramics as a result of one of his earliest jobs as an art director for the ceramics manufacturer Richard-Ginori. Floor tiles for Parco dei Principi, c. 1968. (image courtesy of designboom)
This vanity was used in the guest rooms of the Hotel Parco dei Principi. Playfulness is part of Ponti’s vocabulary, along with strong color and bold geometry evident in this piece.
An iconic and rare Italian lounge chair with brass details designed by Gio Ponti for M. Singer and Sons, circa 1950s. Wool upholstery and walnut armrests and legs.
This pendant lamp Model 0024 designed in 1931 by Ponti for Fontana Arte showcases a central glass diffuser with tempered glass discs and chromed metal fittings.
