Ponti, Gio(vanni) (1891-1979)

Italian designer and architect. He was a pioneer of the Modern Movement in Italy. His masterpiece is the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan, designed with Pier Luigi Nervi (1957-60), which is 126 m/415 ft high and remarkable for its slender hexagonal plan, with tapering ends.

His early work, such as the Institute of Mathematics for the University of Rome (1934), is predominantly rationalist but incorporates neoclassical elements. After 1936 he adopted an overtly modernist style. He was the founder, and editor for many years, of the influential architectural periodical Domus.

His earlier buildings include the office buildings for the Montecatini Company, Milan (1936 and 1951). He also designed interiors for Italian liners, and furniture.