May 17 - The Italian Cultural Institute of New York hosts, until May 31, the exhibition "Living Like Ponti. Experiments of domestic life and architecture for living and work," dedicated to Gio Ponti. After Milan, Rome, Venice, London and Paris, New York will be playing host to the furniture designed by the great architect and designer between 1935 (the first chair for Palazzo Montecatini) and the 50s (bookcases, dressers, coffee tables, picture frames and a mat for the Ponti House in Via Dezza in Milan, 1956-57). The show, during the American stop, is enriched by a section dedicated to projects carried out in the United States: The Alitalia offices in New York in 1958, the Auditorium Time Life Building in New York (1959), the Denver Art Museum (1971), the exhibition of Italian furniture in the U.S. between 1950 and '53 (MUSA), M. Singer & sons furniture from the 50s, and furniture and walls decoration by Altamira (1953). The exhibition is part of the series of events organized for the Year of Italian Culture in the United States.

GIO PONTI

Gio Ponti was born in Milan November 18, 1891 from Enrico Ponti and Giovanna Rigone. He did his military service during the First World War in Genio Pontieri, with the rank of captain, (1916-1918), for which he was awarded the bronze medal and Croix de Guerre. In 1921 he graduated in architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, and opened a studio with Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia. He will then associate himself with Lancia (Studio Ponti and Lancia, 1926-1933), and later with Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini, engineer (Studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Soncini, 1933-1945). In 1921 he married Giulia Vimercati: he had four children (Lisa, Giovanna, Letizia and Giulio) and eight grandchildren. In 1923, he had his first public debut at the Biennial Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Monza, getting involved in the organization of the subsequent Triennial Exhibitions of Monza and Milan. From 1923 to 1930 he worked at the Pottery Factory Richard-Ginori, in Milan and Sesto Fiorentino. In 1928 he founded the magazine Domus. From 1936 to 1961 he was professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic of Milan. In 1941, he leaves the direction of the magazines Domus and Style, which he edited until 1947, while he would edit Domus until the end of his life. In 1952 he associated himself with Alberto Rosselli, architect (Studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli, 1952-1976). After Rosselli’s death, Ponti continued working with his oldest partner, Antonio Fornaroli. He died in Milan on 16 September 1979.