Architect, designer, artist, writer, and all-round inspiration Gio Ponti is being honoured at the “Gio Ponti. Amare l’architettura” exhibition, scheduled at the MAXXI Museum in Rome. The exhibition, curated by Maristella Casciato and Fulvio Irace with Margherita Guccione, Salvatore Licitra, and Francesca Zanella will be exhibited in gallery 5 of the National Museum of Arts of the XXI Century, and is set to run until April 13th, 2020.
To celebrate the life of this influential architect, the exhibition marks forty years since his death, and incorporates the essence of his home – a space he lived for twenty years, realising his love for geometrics, and experimenting with design. Ceramica Francesco De Maio have played a pivotal role in reproducing some of Ponti’s much loved shapes on hand-made majolica tiles that were installed in his Via Dezza apartment.
Alongside the white and yellow diagnoally striped 250 by 250mm tiles will be a range of items showcasing his life and work, including photographs, books, objects signifying his architectural feats, and various other archival materials.
Francesco De Maio is the official sponsor of the exhibition, and are the proud and exclusive producers of the 33 white and blue hand-decorated majolica tiles designed by Gio Ponti for the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Sorrento between 1960 and 1962. They have maintained the integrity of the designs, faithfully utilising the same enamels, supports and colours as the originals.
A 60sqm floor of hand-made and decorated terracotta tiles has been made especially for the occasion which will act as just one element among many to share and celebrate the important impact Gio Ponti has had on design throughout the world.
Tickets and information on the exhibition here.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, December 2019.