Architect, designer, critic, illustrator, Gio Ponti (1891-1979) took his degree in Milan and in 1921 joined the studio of Emilio Lancia and Mino Fiocchi.
From 1923 to 1930 he was Richard Ginori's artistic director. In 1928 he launched the magazine Domus, which he directed, apart from certain brief intervals, right up to his death.
Ponti was the standard-bearer of Italian design, a leading light and supporter of the Monza Biennale, then the Milan Triennale, the Compasso d'Oro awards and ADI (Association of Industrial Design). He collaborated with a number of different artists. In 1957 he designed the super-celebrated Superleggera chair for Cassina, the crowning achievement of a long and fruitful working association.
Ponti's projects are manifold, covering every aspect from industrial design to teaching in the Milan faculty of architecture, from publishing to architecture. Amongst his more important achievements we remember the Pirelli skyscraper building in Milan (1956-1959).