DOMUS 402
Maggio 1963
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]
Gio Ponti [Editorial Director]: DOMUS 402. Milan, Editoriale Domus: Maggio 1963. Original edition. Text in Italian. Slim folio. Thick photographically printed perfect bound wrappers. Side stitched textblock. 62 [lviii] pp. Articles and advertisements. Multiple paper stocks and inserts. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Undredited cover photograph by Charles Eames [In copertina: forme in compensato curvato di Charles Eames, vecchie e nuove (le due sagome orrizontali sono due docce, per il trasporto dei feriti, disegnate per l’esereito americano).] Wrappers lightly worn and soiled with bumped and chipped spine heel, but a very good copy.
9.75 x 12.75 vintage magazine with 120 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 1963 -- with beautiful engraving and gravure printing throughout.
Stellar special issue of Domus devoted to America, featuring Paolo Soleri, Alexander Girard’s Hallmark Guest Apartment photographed by Charles Eames, Alexander Calder’s sculpture at Eliot Noyes’s New Canaan residence, the Eames Studio, the Moscow 1959 National Pavilion designed by George Nelson, Buckminster Fuller and The Office of Charles and Ray Eames, the 1964 New York World’s IBM building, and an illustrated review of the Alexander Girard Folk Art collection exhibited at the Nelson Gallery in Kansas City, MO, again photographed by Charles Eames his own bad self. And there’s an essay by Ettore Sottsass—but it’s in Italian.
Contents include:
- Full-page color photograph of Arcosanti by Charles Eames.
- Paolo Soleri: an Italian in Arizona. 10-page black and white essay with location photography by Charles Eames.
- Alexander Girard’s Hallmark Guest Apartment in Kansas City. 9-page black and white essay photographed by Charles Eames.
- Alexander Calder’s sculpture at Eliot Noyes’s New Canaan residence. 5-page color and black and white photo essay.
- Hollywood backgrounds painted by Alex Trauner. 4-page color and black and white photo essay.
- The Eames Studio. 7 pages with color and black and white photography by Charles Eames.
- Uno Spettacolo Di Proiezioni Sulla Scienza [A Show Of Projections On Science]. 6 pages devoted to the film shown at the Moscow 1959 National Pavilion and the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair with photography by Charles Eames.
- The 1964 New York World’s IBM building. 4 pages devoted to the Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames building.
- The Eliot Noyes Studio: New Canaan, CT. 2 pages of ilustrations.
- Civiltá del Danubio, nelle Riviste: Ettore Sottsass, Jr. One page essay.
- The Alexander Girard Folk Art Collection. 7 page illustrated review of the Nelson Gallery Exhibition in Kansas City, MO, photographed by Charles Eames
- Illustrated art reviews of Christo and others.
- 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.