DESIGN QUARTERLY 69 /70: THE EXPRESSION OF GIO PONTI
Nathan H. Shapira, Charles Eames [foreword]
Nathan H. Shapira, Charles Eames [foreword]: DESIGN QUARTERLY 69 /70: THE EXPRESSION OF GIO PONTI. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1967. First edition [Number 144, 1989]. Slim quarto. Thick photo illustrated wrappers. 72 pp. 145 illustrations. Introduction by Peter Selz; chronological list of works in design and architecture, 1925-1966, and exhibitions, p. 67-68; extensive bibliography of writings by and about Gio Ponti, including numerous periodical references, p. 69-72. Wrappers lightly worn and rubbed, with small and mild abrasion to rear panel, otherwise a very good or better copy.
8.5 x 11 perfect magazine with 72 pages and 145 illustrations, many in color illustrating many of the noted Italian architect/designer's completed projects. A biographical profile, bibliography, and chronologies of works and exhibitions round out this excellent edition of Design Quarterly. And did we mention the Foreword by Charles Eames?
Gio Ponti (Italy, 1891 – 1979) was not only an architect but a poet, painter, polemicist, and designer of exhibitions, theater costumes, Venini glassware, Arthur Krupp tableware, Cassina furniture, lighting fixtures, and ocean liner interiors. He is perhaps best known as the architect of Milan's Pirelli tower, at one time the tallest building in Europe, and for his "Super-leggera" chair which was first manufactured in the '50s and has become classic because of its almost universal use in Italian restaurants. Above all, Ponti was responsible for the renewal of Italian architecture and decorative arts. Drawing upon the legacy of the Viennese Secession and the Wiener Werkstatte, he transformed "classical" language into a rationalist vocabulary.
Design Quarterly began as Everyday Art Quarterly, published by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis starting in 1946. The editorial focus aimed to bring modern design to the masses through thoughtful examination of household objects and their designers. Everyday Art Quarterly was a vocal proponent of the Good Design movement (as represented by MoMA and Chicago's Merchandise Mart) and spotlighted the best in industrial and handcrafted design. When the magazine became Design Quarterly in 1958, the editors assumed a more international flair in their selection of material to spotlight.