Gio Ponti: Archi-Designer

The prolific architect, designer and Domus editor reinvented the look of everyday life from the spoon to the cathedral

With more than 100 buildings and scores of design objects to his name, Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti revolutionized postwar architecture and opened up prospects for new ways of life.

Gio Ponti: Archi-Designer covers Ponti’s entire career from 1921 to 1978, highlighting the many aspects of his work: from mechanical production to handicraft, from architecture to industrial design, from furniture to lighting, from the creation of magazines to his forays into the fields of glass, ceramics and goldsmithing. His work exemplified a certain tendency identified by his fellow architect Ernesto Rogers in 1952, an interest in designing dal cucchiaio alla città (“from the spoon to the town”)―giving equal attention and applying the same innovative design thinking to small spoon and skyscraper alike.

Featuring more than 500 pieces, this book traces Ponti’s multidisciplinary journeys through architecture, furniture and design in his work for private homes and public buildings, including universities and cathedrals.

Regarded as one of the most influential architects and designers of the 20th century, Giovanni “Gio” Ponti (1891–1979) established his architectural firm in 1921 and was extraordinarily prolific from that point on, working as an architect, industrial designer, artist, furniture designer, teacher and writer. In 1928 he founded the magazine Domus, which he would direct for most of his life, helping to spread his vision of a revitalized modern aesthetics in Italian industrial production, architecture, interior design and the decorative arts.