Pavone 12 luci, Arredoluce, 1961
©Foto Massimo Listri
Gio Ponti (Milan 1891-1979)
After WWI, Ponti graduated in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1921. Two years later, he became art director at Richard Ginori and revamped its production. In 1925, he made his debut as an architectural designer, working on the apartment building in via Randaccio in Milan. In 1927, he set up his first professional firm with Emilio Lancia. His passion for decorative arts guided his design work, which was multidisciplinary but focused on the theme of living. In 1928, he set up the Domus magazine with Gianni Mazzocchi. In 1930, he began collaborating with the Milan Triennale, and in 1932 became art director at FontanaArte. In 1933, he began working with engineers Soncini and Fornaroli. In 1936, he designed the first Palazzo Montecatini in Milan. He taught at the Milan Polytechnic from 1936 to 1961. Between 1946 and 1950, he designed for Venini. In 1954, he established the Compasso d’Oro award. In 1956 he made the Superleggera (Super-light) chair and the Pirelli Tower in Milan. In 1957, he published Amate l’architettura (In Praise of Architecture). His works abroad in the 1950s and 1960s include the ministry buildings in Islamabad, Villa Planchart and Villa Arreaza in Caracas, Villa Nemazee in Teheran, the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm and the façades of large department stores in Hong Kong and Eindhoven. In the 1970s, he designed the Taranto co-cathedral and the Denver Art Museum.
This chandelier was designed by Gio Ponti in the early 1960s as part of the Villa Nemazee project in Tehran, commissioned by the Arredoluce company. The structure of the chandelier, which peaks in the center, is designed on one side to provide a passage for electric cables, while the brass stripes draw a sort of flower, carrying the 24 glass globes for lighting. This structure is available in a smaller version with 12 lights. The chandelier appeared again in 1961, in the halls of Hotel Parco dei Principi in Rome, complemented by a play of mirrors on the ceiling. (Salvatore Licitra)