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In 1938, Gio Ponti, a luminary of 20th-century Italian design, put pen to paper for his as-yet-unfinished Villa Marchesano in Bordighera on the Ligurian coast. Without walls, windows or doors, the drawing captured his intentions for the space: how it would be inhabited and how its residents might grow into it. Ponti believed that architecture should serve the lives of its occupants, creating environments that inspire and enrich daily living, and all of the life that he imagined the house would contain is scribbled on to this large sheet of tracing paper. To me, it is this drawing that captures how Ponti thought about space, designed buildings, and crafted objects, and wrote about architecture and everyday life.
As Ponti’s grandson, Salvatore Licitra, founder of the Gio Ponti Archives, reflects on the coherence of his grandfather’s vast body of work:
“The kaleidoscopic and seemingly disordered richness of his creative universe finally reveals itself as a harmonious whole, clear and coherent, where every part responds to a single design.”
The villa’s distinctive shape and color decorations were used not only to enrich the ceilings, but also for a series of enamelled tables
The villa’s distinctive shape and color decorations were used not only to enrich the ceilings, but also for a series of enamelled tables
Across Ponti’s 60-year career, his dedication to this interpretation of design is memorialised in more than 200 built works – with some 40-odd in Milan alone – thousands of drawings, and more than 500 issues of Domus, which he founded in 1928 with Giovanni Semeria and edited until his death in 1979.
This same dedication is also visible in his more than 250 object designs, which often function as microcosms of Ponti’s architectural ideas. This year, Molteni&C has released a collection of these pieces, selecting items from Ponti’s vast archive that are rich in craft and intention. Each piece – whether sculptural or functional – reflects the interplay of geometry and the reimagining of space that defined his work.
There are pieces such as Cavallo: simple forms of an ambiguous animal, cut and folded out of sheet metal. In Colombo, we see more of Ponti’s playful side – a folded bird shape in the same ilk as Cavallo.
The Tubi and Pompei centrepieces, both made of stainless steel, are striking compositions of interconnected tubes that serve as candelabras, vases, or sculptural objects, showing something of Ponti's preoccupation with multifunctionality.
La Mano, a curved stainless steel sculpture of a hand with six fingers, originated from a playful exchange between Ponti and silversmith Lino Sabattini, who made an object from Ponti’s quick, freehand sketch. It invites the user to interpret it themselves: it could be a jewellery hanger, but it could be much more. As Licitra says, it is “the mimicry of error, an impossible hand in honour of fantasy, while still remaining a symbol of measure and human expression, of concrete intervention and creation”.
Lastly, there is the more functional Architettura Tray, a hexagonal tray which Ponti originally designed in 1960 after being inspired by the iconic floor plan of the Pirelli Tower, his largest project standing at 127m tall. Ponti approached the world with a spatial vision that spanned urban planning, buildings, furniture, arts, and design objects. This tray exemplifies his philosophy by showing that architecture and design, and art and utility, are parallel, complementary forces.
Craft was at the centre of Ponti’s work and his choice of material was very deliberate. He explored a variety of mediums, including metal, stone, ceramics and glass. Many of his sculptural pieces, such as Cavallo and Colombo, were originally crafted in silver, but have now been reissued in stainless steel – a material Ponti admired for its durability and contemporary appeal.
The Bottiglie set features three decorative wooden bottles in different but complementary shapes. They showcase his appreciation for wood, made from solid ash and robinia wood, their dual-tone design highlighting Ponti’s fascination with material contrast. With Bucchero – a sculptural ceramic vase that stands on four legs, giving it a theatrical presence – Ponti revived an ancient Etruscan ceramic technique of drying clay in open air then firing it to remove the oxygen, resulting in a distinctive dark-coloured pottery. These works and their materials are reflective of how Ponti bridged tradition and innovation to reinforce his belief that art, craft and design are timeless.
That Ponti’s work was executed with such rigour and elegance can be partly attributed to his parallel pursuits of writing and editorial work, notably through Domus. Named for the Latin for “home”, the magazine sought to promote thinking around architecture, interiors, and the decorative arts in Italy, making his ideas on the creation of domestic spaces more accessible and appealing to an audience beyond professional design spheres.
He said of the magazine’s mission that “the house[…] should not be in fashion, for it should not go out of fashion”, and it is through Domus that he promoted a timeless and enduring Italian design, one that is present in this rerelease of his objects today.
As shown in his drawing of Villa Marchesano, Ponti believed that buildings should be designed from the inside out, with a focus on how people would live and interact within the spaces; architecture and interior design should work together as a unified whole, and his prolific portfolio stemmed from his desire to design at every scale. In Villa Planchart in Caracas, a private residence for Anala and Armando Planchart, Ponti oversaw everything from the architecture to the interior furnishings and decorative arts. He collaborated with local craftspeople to create custom furniture, light fixtures, and artwork specifically for the villa. Ponti's approach was both innovative and practical. He aimed to make everyday spaces more beautiful and functional by thoughtfully integrating architecture with interior design. This dedication made his creations timeless and influential in the world of architecture and beyond.
Ponti took great care to create an atmosphere on the top of the hill reminiscent of a lantern
Ponti took great care to create an atmosphere on the top of the hill reminiscent of a lantern
Ponti once said: “The point of architecture is life.”
This emphasis on inhabitant experience anticipated innovations such as co-design and ergonomics, as he considered the physical and emotional wellbeing of occupants with every design decision.
This is most evident in his own home, Casa Ponti in Milan, a living showcase of his design philosophy. Here, spaces flowed into each other, and all areas of the flat, except for the kitchen and bathrooms, were interconnected and could be divided using accordion-style folding partitions. The walls were design objects in themselves and Ponti could freely flow through the spaces when needed, but also allow the privacy and functions of each area to be respected.
Ponti had an exceptional ability to elevate the mundane through elegant and playful design, and to craft objects that seem as though they will always be relevant, and might have always been around. He believed that beauty should be intertwined with daily life – it was not the reserve of the wealthy and elite – and that even the simplest items could be sources of joy and inspiration. Today, mass production often overlooks individuality and artistry – a phenomenon that Ponti – but his return to craftsmanship and thoughtful design resonates deeply. His approach to home and object design continues to inspire designers and homeowners alike, reminding us that our homes should enrich our lives.
Molteni&C’s new collection demonstrates the timelessness that Ponti aspired to, and sees his legacy valued in modern living. His philosophy continues to influence generations of architects and designers. By viewing buildings as living, breathing environments shaped around their occupants, he shifted the paradigm from monumental structures to human-centred spaces. Ponti’s philosophy remains as relevant as ever.
As Licitra puts it: “Beautiful and impossible objects, suitable only for flights of fantasy, inviting us to live and enjoy beauty.”
Today, there is still an emphasis on flexible interiors and adaptable spaces, and the ideas present in Casa Ponti still seem innovative as they continue to be rewritten. As Ponti himself once said:
“Original ideas are not important: actually, original ideas don’t exist. Ideas are received and re-expressed.”
Like many of Gio Ponti's other pieces, the D.154.2 was conceived for a private client, the collectors Anala and Armando Planchart, as part of the project for their villa in Caracas, Venezuela.
“Ponti style” is a lifestyle that emerged through six decades of the creative practice of Gio Ponti (1891-1979).
Designers as Gio Ponti have long been attracted to the creative and intellectual freedom offered by maritime projects, and that continues to ring true today.
