'Chiarezza, unità, visibilità totale negli uffici modernissimi', Domus, no. 270, May 1952, pp. 21, 24-25 for a similar example Ugo La Pietra, Gio Ponti: L'Arte si innamora dell'Industria, New York, 2009, p. 194 for a similar example
Catalogue Essay
The present model desk is a variant of the model designed by Gio Ponti for the Vembi-Burroughs offices.
Among the most prolific talents to grace twentieth-century design, Gio Ponti defied categorization. Though trained as an architect, he made major contributions to the decorative arts, designing in such disparate materials as ceramics, glass, wood and metal. A gale force of interdisciplinary creativity, Ponti embraced new materials like plastic and aluminum but employed traditional materials such as marble and wood in original, unconventional ways.
In the industrial realm, he designed buildings, cars, machinery and appliances — notably, the La Cornuta espresso machine for La Pavoni — and founded the ADI (Industrial Designer Association). Among the most special works by Gio Ponti are those that he made in collaboration with master craftsmen such as the cabinetmaker Giordano Chiesa, the illustrator Piero Fornasetti and the enamellist Paolo de Poli.
circa 1950 Walnut, walnut-veneered wood, reverse painted glass, brass. 75.7 x 159.8 x 84.8 cm (29 3/4 x 62 7/8 x 33 3/8 in.) Produced by Ariberto Colombo, Cantù, Italy. Underside with producer's paper label printed ARIBERTO COLOMBO/MOBILIFICIO, partially faded. Together with a certificate of expertise from the Gio Ponti Archives.
