Molteni&C + Taschen
Timeless: celebrating 130 years of Gio Ponti
“The most resistant element in building is art. Let’s make something very beautiful”
-Gio Ponti
November 18, 2021, marks the 130th anniversary of Gio Ponti’s birth. For such occasion, we are very proud to announce a unique collaboration with TASCHEN, the pioneering German art book publisher famous for its iconic titles, to celebrate the Italian architect’s achievements and prolific body of work.
Benedikt Taschen: a devout admirer of the maestro’s artworks
Benedikt Taschen, the company’s ingenious founder and passionate art lover, has long been a fervent Gio Ponti enthusiast and collector.
The collaboration between Taschen and Molteni&C started when the pioneering German art book publisher launched the monograph Gio Ponti and its limited edition Gio Ponti. Art Edition. inlcusive of a re-edition of the Planchart table manufactured by Molteni&C.
A must-have compendium of Gio Ponti’s oeuvre
Produced in close collaboration with the Gio Ponti Archives and its founder Salvatore Licitra, Gio Ponti is an immersive book scaled to the architect’s kaleidoscopic universe, drawing the reader closer to his work than ever before. Featuring texts by Lisa Licitra Ponti and an extensive biographical essay by Stefano Casciani, this book presents architecture as a performing object, a “self-illuminating” stage for Ponti’s humanistic art de vivre and boundless creativity.
Gio Ponti: a momentous monograph by TASCHEN
This new book (572 pages) is the most comprehensive account of Ponti’s work to date, unprecedented in scale and scope. The volume tracks the development of his output over six decades, with 136 projects indexed and reproduced in high resolution, each object framed by the context in which Ponti had created it. Like windows onto his elusive life, unpublished materials and candid imagery create new dialogues between his famous masterpieces and his lesser-known feats.
Discover more on taschen.com
The book is also available as a limited numbered Art Edition (1,000 copies), accompanied by an exclusive and rare square format reproduction of the famous Arlecchino design produced for TASCHEN by Molteni&C - and a set of four numbered prints of Ponti’s interior ocean liner studies.
The Arlecchino lattice coffee table is regarded as one of Gio Ponti’s most iconic designs. Echoing the pictorial approach of the Dutch De Stijl artists, its surface relies on a vibrant structural grid for multiple colour combinations that change according to the viewer’s movement around the table. The celebrated piece comes in a square format, as originally created in 1954 for Ponti’s Villa Planchart – i.e., the Planchart Coffee Table.
The four prints are of drawings by Gio Ponti from 1948–49, illustrations for the interiors of the Italian ocean liners Conte Grande and Conte Biancamano. They are testimony of Ponti’s efforts to create spaces to foster the elegant and contemplative atmosphere inherent to a luxury cruise, championing the best that the arts and most refined craftsmen of Italy could offer at that time.
Molteni&C: celebrating our legacy
In a career spanning more than fifty years, Gio Ponti (Milan, 1891-1979) painted and designed everything – buildings, interiors, furniture, objects and furnishings for his homes. Designs which, without Molteni&C’s intervention, would have been lost, depriving us forever of a legacy that belongs to Italy’s cultural heritage.
The lengthy process of research, study, and selection, carried out with Ponti’s heirs, and the curator Salvatore Licitra in particular, led to remakes of historic items designed by the great architect for private homes, offices, special projects, or small series.
Gio Ponti Heritage Collection
The Gio Ponti collection, which Molteni&C dedicates to the great designer, was established in 2012 in partnership with the Gio Ponti Archives and the Ponti heirs, and under the artistic direction of Studio Cerri & Associati.
A tribute to a career spanning more than five decades, and an opportunity to engage with history and renewing our focus on such a leading figure of Italian and international architecture.
The collection, to which new elements are added every year, includes furniture designed by Gio Ponti between 1935 and the 1970s, such as the D. 235.1/2 chair for the first Palazzo Montecatini in Milan, the D.154.2 armchair for Villa Planchart in Caracas, the D.555.2 small table produced in a limited series for Singer & Sons, and the folding chairs presented at Eurodomus 3, Turin/Milan.
A progressively numbered certificate of authenticity issued by the Gio Ponti Archives identifies each item produced.
AMARE GIO PONTI
A unique film highlighting the maestro’s life and work
On the occasion of Gio Ponti 130th birthday anniversary, we are offering for a limited time the exclusive chance to view the documentary ‘AMARE GIO PONTI’, a unique film highlighting the maestro’s life and work.
The film will be available over the course of only four days in November, beginning on the 18th, Gio Ponti’s actual birthday.
Sign up now for your exclusive screening.
