Gio Ponti was one of the most influential and highly commended designers of the twentieth century. He worked in many design fields throughout his life, pursuing architecture, industrial design and furniture design.

Ponti was born in Milan in 1891. His studies to become an architect were interrupted by the start of World War One, when he had to serve in the Italian army. After the war he completed his degree in architecture and then became art director of the ceramics manufacturer, Richard-Ginori. From 1923 to 1930, he turned the company into a model of industrial design excellence by decorating simple ceramic forms with elegant neo-classical motifs. "Industry is the style of the 20th century, its mode of creation," wrote Ponti after winning the Grand Prix at the 1925 Paris Expo. (intext)

Ponti’s early interest in ceramics was a formative influence and changed his thinking regarding structure and shape in design. According to the New York Times art critic, Alice Rawsthorn, Ponti’s experience at Richard Ginori “fostered his love of rich colors, exuberant shapes and fine craftsmanship” (2011). This influence continued as he began to pursue architecture. He …show more content…
The front facade is a curtain wall. Having three fifths of the building’s “skin” entirely covered in windows lets in a lot of natural light, which creates he feeling of space, openness and warmth within the building. Using this much natural light was a key aspect of modernism in architecture, as it helped convey a new beginning and life after the war. The outer side edges of the building structure are concrete to provide structural support and to make it more visually appealing, which could suggest that is also trying to show that strength and solidity after the war. Another modernist element used used for this “graphic slogan” is that it contains a curtain walls which until the modernist movement was not