Gio Ponti

Gio Ponti was a famous Italian architect, designer and academic. Born in Milan, Ponti graduated in architecture from the Polytechnic in 1921. He collaborated with the ceramics manufacturer Richard-Ginori and started a new production of classically inspired porcelain and majolica.

In 1928 Ponti founded the magazine ‘Domus’ and designed the first Italian rationalist ‘typical houses’. He participated in the Milan Triennials from 1930 to 1951 and collaborated with Luigi Fontana, for whom he was artistic director. Throughout his career, he realised important projects and achievements in residential and commercial architecture, furniture, and decorative arts.

Among his most famous works are the Villa Bouilhet in Garches near Paris, the building in Via Randaccio in Milan, the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan and the Co-Cathedral in Taranto. Ponti was a pioneer of modern design, developing a theory of the ‘finished form’ that encompassed all levels of design, from the smallest object to large buildings. He also invented the Compasso d’Oro award and published ‘Love Architecture’.