DOMUS 361
Dicembre 1959
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]: DOMUS 361. Milan, Editoriale Domus: Dicembre 1959. Original edition. Text in Italian. English, German and French translation summary. Slim folio. Thick photo illustrated perfect bound wrappers. Side stitched textblock. 74 [viii] pp. Articles and advertisements. Multiple paper stocks and inserts. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Cover by Bruno Munari. Wrappers lightly worn, but a very good copy.
9.5 x 12.75 magazine with 74 [viii] pages (printed on a variety of paper stocks) of color and black and white examples of the best modern interior and industrial design, circa 1959 -- with beautiful color engraving and gravure printing throughout.
- San Remo Nunnery: Gio Ponti. 20 pages in color and black and white
- Country House: Alberto Rosselli. 12 pages in color and black and white
- Paolo Venini. 24 pages in color and black and white
- American Moscow Exhibition: Ray & Charles Eames
- Mirko 1959
- Exhibition: Carlo Scarpai. 8 pages in color and black and white
- Guido Gambone Ceramics
- Several Tables And A Chair: Angelo Mangiarotti
- Handkerchiefs By M.I.T.A.
- Swedish Fabrics: Viola Grästen
- Eight Designs: Piero Fornasetti
- Living Room: Franco & Giuliana Lancetti
- Turin House: Franco Campo & Carlo Graffi
- Full page Olivetti Lettera 22 color ad on back cover.
- 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.