Gio Ponti

Giovanni Ponti, affectionately known as Gio (Milan, 1891-1979), one of the masters of Italian design and architecture, essayist, and founder of magazines, including “Domus”, was a unique, eclectic personality in the international landscape of the 20th century. In 1954, he established the “Compasso d’Oro” prize and published one of his seminal writings, “Amate l’architettura”, a veritable manifesto for culture, style and taste, Italian and otherwise. He has designed hundreds of objects and his architecture is found across the globe: Ponti’s masterpiece, the Pirelli skyscraper (1956) in Milan; the great Denver Art Museum in Colorado; and the headquarters of the Italian Institute of Culture, in Stockholm. Ponti was an authentic ambassador for the quintessentially Italian way of living.