DOMUS 234
Volume Three, 1949
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]: DOMUS 234. Milan, Editoriale Domus: Volume Three, 1949. Original edition. Text in Italian. English and French translation summary. Slim folio. Thick photographically printed perfect bound wrappers. Side stitched textblock. 52 [xiv] pp. Articles and advertisements. Multiple paper stocks and inserts. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Wrappers worn and soiled. Yellowing to page edges and mild spotting throughout. Spine rough. Few leaves skinned due to tackiness of the ink. A good copy.
9.75 x 12.75 vintage magazine with 52 [xiv] pages printed on a variety of paper stocks of black and white [and some color] examples of the best modern interior and industrial design, circa 1949 -- with beautiful engraving and gravure printing throughout.
Long considered Europe's most influential architecture and design magazine, Domus was founded by Gio Ponti in 1928 as a "living diary" in which he could advertise his own work, outline the "aims" of his projects and raise people's awareness about other design issues. Called the "Mediterranean Megaphone, " Domus lauded mass-production and tried to link architecture and artisans in a new, unforeseen ways. Ponti left Domus in 1940 to start his other journal, Stile in which he could focus on art and the impact of the war on Italian architects and architecture. In 1948 Ponti returned to Domus, where he recast it in his own eclectic, exuberant vision of the modern and tirelessly championed designers he admired, notably Carlo Mollino.
- Architecture
- Villas Arnstein And Frontini: Bernard Rudofsky
- Small Mountain House: Augusto Romano
- House In Milan: Gigi Gho
- Furnishing
- The Single Piece Of Furniture. 16 Pages Of Work By Franco Albini, Belgiojoso, Gigi Caccia, Paolo Chessa, Carlo De Carli, Luigi Fratino, Ignazio Gardella, Vito Latis, Paolo Magistretti, Roberto Menghi, Peressutti, Mario Righini, Gino Sarfatti, Mario Tedeschi, Vietta, Vittoriano Vigano, And Marco Zanuso.
- Art
- Murals by Pino Casarini
- The Work Of Pietro Chiesa: Gio Ponti. 18 illustrated article covering all facets of Chiesa's output.
In his 1957 book Amate L'Architettura (In Praise of Achitecture) Ponti extolled his audience to "Love architecture, be it ancient or modern. Love it for its fantastic, adventurous and solemn creations; for its inventions; for the abstract, allusive and figurative forms that enchant our spirit and enrapture our thoughts. Love architecture, the stage and support of our lives." This spirit reverberates through every page of Domus.