Gio Ponti: More Than One: Critic, Editor, Graphic Artist, Architect, Product Designer

Gio Ponti (1891–1979) was a giant of Italian Modernism, contributing to a multitude of fields: architecture, industrial design, furniture design, education, art criticism and publishing. From 1923 to 1930, Ponti served as the artistic director of the now cult Italian tableware manufacturer Richard Ginori. In 1928, he founded the internationally renowned magazine Domus, which, apart from a break in the 1940s, he continued to direct for the rest of his life. In the postwar era, Ponti and his associates Antonio Fornaroli and Alberto Rosselli shaped the architectural image of Milan but were also active across the globe from Caracas to Tehran, Denver, Islamabad and Eindhoven.

More Than One: Gio Ponti delves into the many components of Ponti’s creative contribution to the 20th century and traces his enduring influence in Italy and across the globe. Infused with intellectual heft, the volume presents an array of new scholarship on Ponti’s work. The editors, Manfredo di Robilant and Manuel Orazi, contextualize his work amid the social, economic and aesthetic developments of his time. Professional photographs of his work share space with archival ephemera and Ponti’s own preparatory sketches.