Gio Ponti

12 Pages 3056 Words

graduated in 1921. Upon completion of his degree, he set up a studio in Milan with architects Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia. Within a few years, Fiocchi had left the practice and Ponti remained partners with Lancia from 1926 to 1933. While involved with these various firms Ponti met a woman by the name of Giulia Vimercati and they were married shortly after in 1921. Their marriage resulted in four children of their own and eventually eight grandchildren arrived.
Early on, Ponti’s career was deeply influenced by exposure to the simplified classicism of the Novecento Italiano. Craving for greener grass, Ponti left his work with Lancia and formed yet another studio with engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini, which existed from 1933 to 1945. During their existence the firm placed great attention on designing the typical or ideal domicile.
From 1923 to 1930 he also worked at the Manifattura Ceramica for Richard Ginori, in Milan and changed the company's entire line by adorning ordinary ceramic forms with refined neo-classical themes. In 1923, Ponti presented his first porcelain line at the first Biennial Exhibition of the Decorative Arts in Monza. Subsequently, his involvement in the Biennial Exhibition led to the organization of the Triennale Exhibitions in Monza and Milan. Through his experiences with these exhibits, Ponti evolved into an impressionable neo-classicist while he also developed an individual trademark of Modernism, which would come to distinguish much of his later works.
While working with Ginori he founded the magazine Domus (1928), which translates to “typical house”. The drive behind the magazine was to help others express and popularize new design issues, primarily focussing on furnishings and interior design. In 1941 he abandoned his role as editor of the magazine Domus and set up another magazine titled Stile, which he edited until 1947. In 1948 he returned to Domus, where he remaine...