“Gio” or Giovani Ponti (1891 – 1979) was a busy Italian architect with an admirable record of buildings in Italy and international locations.
Unfortunately, the only example of Ponti’s architecture in North America is the Denver Art Museum (1971), North Building which was done in collaboration with James Sudler Associates.
As far as architecture goes, he is probably best known for the Pirelli Tower in Milan.
Of all the creative activities of Ponti such as designing ceramics, flatware, toilets, and glassworks to name a few, he also created some interesting and unique pieces of furniture.
As with other designers of the mid-century, Ponti many times made furniture as part of the overall concept of the interior spaces for buildings he created. The above illustrated D.153.1 chair is an example of this. The chair was created to go into the house he designed for himself.
Gio Ponti’s furniture obviously has all the influences of mid-century modern design but he, like Edward Wormley in the US, created pieces useful and quite approachable. The only bit of radicalism came from his tendency to the slope the arms of chairs downward toward the front. As can be seen in the above chair, he seemed to favor comfort over other priorities.
A Few Images of His Furniture
His furniture is still widely available, especially in Italy. You can find pieces at Design Within Reach, Pamono, and Molteni & C.
HBosler
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