Designer · Italy · 1891–1979
Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti (1891–1979) – Italian architect and designer, founder of “Domus” magazine (1928), designer of the Superleggera chair for Cassina (1957) and Pirelli Tower.
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About the designer
- Lifetime
- 1891–1979
- Country
- Italy
Gio Ponti was born on 18 November 1891 in Milan, and in 1921 obtained his architecture diploma from the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he taught from 1936 to 1961. From 1923 he was artistic director of Richard-Ginori, in 1928 he founded “Domus” magazine, and from 1933 he was artistic director of Fontana Arte together with Pietro Chiesa.
His best-known designs include the lightweight Superleggera chair (Italian for “super-light”), designed in 1957 for Cassina, and the La Pavoni coffee machine (1948). As an architect, he completed, among other projects, Pirelli Tower in Milan (1956–1960, with Nervi and Danusso), Villa Planchart in Caracas (1953–1957), the co-cathedral in Taranto (1964–1970) and Denver Art Museum (1970–1972).
He was a co-founder of the Italian design award Compasso d'Oro, established in 1954, and received it himself in 1956. His wide-ranging work encompassed architecture, industrial design, furniture, ceramics and publishing, and for a quarter of a century he taught successive generations of architects at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He died on 16 September 1979 in Milan.
Key designs
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Superleggera
chair
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La Pavoni
coffee machine
