Giovanni “Gio” Ponti, (1891–1979), is one of the Italian masters of architecture. Gio Ponti graduated in Architecture from the Polytechnic of Milan at the end of World War I, after he fought on the front line earning military decorations. In 1927 he opened a studio in Milan with the architect Emilio Lancia and by 1928, he founded the Domus magazine with Gianni Mazzocchi.

From 1936 to 1961 he was a professor at the Milan Polytechnic, and in 1933 was associated with Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini, until 1945. Together, they collaborated on projects including the Montecatini Palace in Milan from 1936 to 1938, in which Ponti created the "integral design" of the building and the interiors.

Other landmark works included the Littoria Tower in Milan, school buildings such as the School of Mathematics at the University City, Rome, and the Humanities Faculty and the Rectorate of the University of Padua. Residential projects included Casa Marmont in 1934 and Milan "Domus" from 1931 to 1936.