Rare Gio Ponti Sofa

Gio Ponti sofa, Pierre Frey fabric and walnut, Italy, 1960s

Stunning sofa by Gio Ponti. This particular sofa breathes the luxurious feel of well-balanced Italian furniture designs of the 1960s. Made for a private residence in Italy, this piece was the property of an Italian architect that had the interior of his home furnished by, amongst other designers, Gio Ponti.

The first thing that catches the eye is the sculptural form of this sofa, the boomerang shape has great visual qualities. The shape of this sofa emphasized by the way is it upholstered, the interior is executed in pink and the outer shell in off white. This piece, in its clearly elegant form, is newly upholstered and perfectly ready to be enjoyed.

This particular design is very similar to the naval interior Ponti designed for the 'Conte Biancamano' ocean liner in 1949. Ponti was captivated by the interiors of ships, which played an important role in his career. His experience of interior design for ships started after the war. The concept to achieve was to elevate the interior to an unambiguously naval character with a highly elegant interior.

Giovanni (Gio) Ponti (1891 – 1979) is one of the most influential Italian designers of the twentieth century. His contribution to architecture, furniture design and the arts has been substantial. Born in Milan in 1891, he attended the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he graduated in Architecture in 1921 after serving the military during WWI. He opened his first studio in 1927 in Milan with architect Emilio Lancia. Soon after, he founded Domus magazine in 1928 with Gianni Mazzocchi, which became one of the most prominent European magazines in architecture and design. Ponti participated during the Triennale exhibitions of the 1930's, and later he became a member of the Triennial committee. A significant shift can be distinguished in his designs between the two World Wars. During the early years, Ponti's style positioned between rationalism and Lombard Classicism that came forward in his use of decorative elements in his furniture and objects. Functionality and a pragmatic approach started to play a bigger role in his later designs. His work as a designer fully took off after WWII, and he became an important figure in Italian industrial aesthetics that conquered the international markets in the 1950s. Gio Ponti worked together with many designers, such as Antonio Fornaroli and Alberto Rosselli, and his work has been of great inspiration for even more. A few amongst Ponti's followers are Paolo Buffa, Paco Muñoz and Lina Bo Bardi, as with the latter Ponti worked together on a series of projects during the early period of Bo Bardi's career.

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