Gio Ponti

Giovanni (Gio) Ponti (1891-1979) was an Italian designer, architect and journalist. He studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. After completing his studies in 1921, he worked for two years as an architect and then took a position as artistic director of a ceramics factory.

During the course of his career, he also designed glassware, lighting, furniture and housewares. He was a professor or architecture and wrote a number of books on art, design and architecture.

In 1928 Ponti founded the design and architecture magazine Domus and remained its editor for many years. In 1933 he was a co-founder of the important Milan Triennale. The Pirelli Building is considered his architectural masterpiece, along with the Denver Art Museum. His best known designs are the Superleggera chair (1957) for Cassina, the glass and lighting he created for Venini (1946-1950) and the coffee machine he designed for La Pavoni (1948).

From ponti-gio.com

La Pavoni coffee machine
designmuseum.org

Superleggera chair for Cassina
cassina.com

Venini glass
antiquehelper.com

Venini glass
liveauctioneers.com

Chandelier
1stdibs.com

Distex lounge chair
icollector.com

Cane bench
treadwaygallery.com

White leather armchairs
center44.com

Display case
wright20.com

Executive desk
wright20.com

Rocking chair
1stdibs.com

Sideboard
icollector.com

Pronunciation Guide

Timo Sarpaneva

Timo Sarpaneva (1926-2006) once said, "At the age of eight or nine, I held a piece of ice in my hand until I'd made a hole in it with my warm finger." The Finnish designer's experience was to be recalled in many of his transparent and concave pieces of glass. He worked in metal, wood, textiles and porcelain, but glass is his best-known medium. 

Sarpaneva went to work for Iittala glassworks in 1950 as an independent designer. He created their famous logo, a lower case i in a circle, which they used for the rest of the century.

His Grand Prix from the Milan Triennale in 1954 brought him international acclaim. The series for which he won the prize included Orkidea ("Orchid"), Kajakki ("Kayak"), and Lansetti ("Lancet"), which were produced by Ittala. In 1954, House Beautiful magazine chose his Lancet II vase as "The Most Beautiful Design Object of the Year."  

Sarpaneva was art director for the Pori Puuvilla cotton mill from 1955-1956. He then opened his own studio in 1962 and begain to design for more companies, such as his line of covered casseroles and pans for Rosenløw and his glass designs for Corning in the United States and Venini in Italy.

Both his Finlandia collection of "bark glass," which was first produced in 1964, and the Festivo series of candleholders (called Senator in the United States) had a rough textured surface resembling snow and ice, which was accomplished by using a mold made of charred wood. They became a huge successes in the 1960s and are still extremely popular today.

From scandinaviandesign.com and r20thcentury.com

Lancet II
arcadja.com

Kekkerit glassware
tuhattori.com

Crocus vase
modernistglass.com

Finlandia vase
botterweg.com

Finlandia bowl
christies.com

Festivo candleholders
starkeld.com