GIO PONTI

GIO PONTI, published by Taschen, is a monographic book on the work of the Italian architect Gio Ponti. The publishing project condenses into 572 pages the intense 60-year career of one of the greatest architects, designers and artistic directors of the twentieth century. The book includes much previously unpublished material on his projects and private life, creating an in-depth and varied account of Ponti’s work and personality. The rich array of illustrations also includes some pictures from the photographic archive of the Pirelli Foundation, which preserves complete documentation of the construction of the Pirelli Tower, from the excavation of its foundations to its opening. The illustrations chosen for the publication also include those of the interiors of the building, with the furnishings designed by the architect, where one can also see part of the famous striped yellow linoleum flooring, which also appears on the cover. The Tower project appears in the book alongside designs for churches, other skyscrapers, power plants, swimming pools, hotels and museums. Gio Ponti also designed handles, fabrics, furnishings, cutlery, wine labels, tableware and theatre costumes, vases, bed sheets and cars. And, of course, the interiors of the great ocean liners in their heyday, on which Ponti worked after the war, from 1949 to 1953. The book is edited by Stefano Casciani and Karl Kolbitz with the collaboration of Lisa Licitra Ponti and Salvatore Licitra, head of the Gio Ponti Archive. GIO PONTI By Stefano Casciani and Karl Kolbitz with the assistance of Salvatore Licitra, Lisa Licitra Ponti, Brian Kish, and Fabio Marino Taschen