In addition to his activities as an architect, Gio Ponti is one of the founders of Italian design, and one of the most important promoters of industrial design. In 1923, Ponti took over as artistic director of a ceramics factory, largely creating vase designs for serial production. In 1927, he exhibited affordable but perfectly worked furniture models at the Biennale in Monza; these were intended to offer modern, contemporary living to the middle classes. Ponti also oversaw the designing of glass vases, cutlery, lamps, kitchen appliances and sundry other objects for everyday use. His innovative approach to design resulted in consistently impressive shapes combined suitability for the object’s function with a high degree of elegance and optical charm.
In 2012, the Italian furniture company Molteni&C marketed a collection featuring new unlimited-edition reproductions of Gio Ponti’s designs. The Tavolino [tea table] and the Poltrona [armchair] were designed by Ponti in the mid-1950s, derive from this re-edition. Both the round tea table with the diamond-patterned glazed surface with colored accents and the blue and white armchair with its elegant, angular shapes represent classic examples of Gio Ponti’s design work.
Gio Ponti
Poltrona, 1953/2013
