Boussoles à la page Cafetière, 1935. Coffeepot, 1935. Table, 1954. Lustre, 1964. Meuble bar, 1938-1943. Table, 1954. Chandelier, 1964. Bar cabinet, 1938-43. Gio Ponti’s beautiful boats The architect, designer and publisher Gio Ponti designed the interiors of numerous ocean liners. None of his ships still sail, but the Musée des Arts Décoratifs has mounted a retrospective of the prolific Milanese master’s work. All rivers flow into the sea. And it was across the planet’s seas by another successful venture—still in tandem with Zoncada— and oceans that the architect and designer Gio Ponti (1891- namely the interior of the prestigious Conte Biancamano 1979), showcased in a new retrospective at Paris’s Musée des and Giulio Cesare, and the Andrea Doria, launched in 1953 on Arts Décoratifs, launched some of his most beautiful creations the Genoa/New York route, the most fabulous of all. This icon, in the form of ocean liners decorated by himself and his peers. a floating masterpiece of design, sadly sank on July 26, 1956, Between 1948 and 1953, he designed the first-class interiors off the American coast, between Nantucket and New York, on several vessels that were the flagships for modern Italian after colliding with a Swedish ship. Thanks to the assistance of decorative design. Founder in 1928 of the magazine Domus, the older French liner the Île-de-France, almost all of the 1,200 in which from 1931 onward he published numerous articles on passengers and 500 crew members were saved. On board were liner design, Ponti had already attracted attention for various some celebrities, including several Hollywood stars returning collaborations on theSaturnia, the Vittoria and the Conte di from Rome after shooting a film there. In the hold was the only Savoia before the war, projects piloted by the naval architect prototype of the Chrysler Norseman dream car, made by the Gustavo Pulitzer Finali. The postwar period gave him the oppor- Turin coachbuilding firm Ghia, a ghost vehicle that has become tunity to work on more ambitious projects, such as the renova- legendary. This event made headlines around the world and the tion of the Conte Grande for the Costa family, famous Genoese aerial photographs of the sinking ship earned photographer shipowners. In association with designer Nino Zoncada, Ponti Henry Trask the Pulitzer Prize, no less. Since then the wreck of brought on board his artist friends—including Piero Fornasetti, the Andrea Doria and all that it contained by Gio Ponti and Fausto Melotti and Guido Gambone—and designed all of the others lies more than 50 meters down and has become a legendary furniture, which was made by Cassina. This would be followed dive site, an Everest of the oceans. A story that runs deep . . . TUTTO PONTI. GIO PONTI, ARCHI-DESIGNER Jusqu’au 10 février. Musée des Arts décoratifs. 107, rue de Rivoli. www.madparis.fr 110 sevihcrA itnoP oiG ©