Giovanni Ponti, known as Giò (Milan, November 18, 1891 - Milan, September 16, 1979), was an Italian architect, designer, essayist and academic who led a unique career, actively participating in the rebirth of post-war Italian design.
Gio Ponti graduated in architecture from the then Royal Higher Technical Institute (the future Polytechnic of Milan) in 1921, after having suspended his studies during his participation in the First World War. In the same year he married the noble Giulia Vimercati, from an ancient Brianza family, with whom he had four children (Lisa, Giovanna, Letizia and Giulio).
Initially, in 1921, he opened a studio together with the architects Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia (1926-1933), before moving on to collaborate with the engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini (1933-1945). In 1923 he participated in the 1st Biennial of Decorative Arts held at the ISIA in Monza and was subsequently involved in the organization of the various Triennials, both in Monza and in Milan.
In the twenties, Richard Ginori started his activity as a designer in the ceramic industry, overall reworking the industrial design strategy of the company; with his ceramics, he won the "Grand Prix" at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925. In those years, his production was more based on classical themes, showing himself closer to the Novecento movement, an exponent of rationalism. In the same years he also began his publishing activity: in 1928 he founded the magazine Domus, a newspaper that he directed until his death, except in the period 1941-1948 when he was director of Stile. Together with Casabella, Domus will represent the center of the cultural debate of Italian architecture and design in the second half of the twentieth century .....
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