DOMUS 345
Agosto 1958
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]: DOMUS 345. Milan, Editoriale Domus: Agosto 1958. Original edition. Text in Italian. English, German and French translation summary. Slim folio. Thick photographically printed perfect bound wrappers. Side stitched textblock. 56 [iv] pp. Articles and advertisements. Multiple paper stocks and inserts. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Wrappers lightly worn and soiled. Yellowing to page edges. Cover by Michele Provinciali.Textblock loosening from spine [but complete], otherwise a good copy with exceptional content.
9.75 x 12.75 vintage magazine with 56 [iv] 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 1958 -- with beautiful engraving and gravure printing throughout.
- Expo 58 In Brussels: Le Corbusier, Egon Eiermann; Belgiojoso, Gardella, Peressutti, Rogers; Ramon Vasquez Molezun & Jose Antonio Corrales; Guillaume Gillet, Rene Sarger, Jean Prouve; Sverre Fehn; Tapio Wirkkala, Rut Bryk, Peter Harnden, Saul Steinberg [4-Page Fold-Out!], Leo Lionni, Kunio Mayekawa, etc.
- A House, A Staircase: Gio Ponti
- A Garden Pavillion: Paolo Tilche
- Apartment In Milan: Renato Costa
- At The 22nd Mostra Mercato In Florence
- New Ceramics: Giovanni Battista Valentini, Alberto Diato.
- New Ceramic Series: Ettore Sottsass
- Modern Jewelry: Eugenio Carmi
- and more.
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.
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.