Contemporary chair PONTI 969

indoorfabricwooden base

The 969 by Gio Ponti, is a re-design of the original chair already launched at the VI Triennale of Milan in 1936, as designed by the same author, one of the greatest exponent of the Italian culture of the XX century. Architect, industrial designer, artist and founder of famous magazines, played a key role to establish the international reputation of Italy in the scene of modern design and architecture. The architect who loved classicism while looking towards the future, the promoter of industrial design of the XX century who was an estimator of the artisanship. “The architect of today should learn from every artisan: learn from stonemason (shiny, polished, hammered, chiselled, flaked surfaces), learn from the carpenter, from the blacksmith, from the plasterer, from all the workers and artisans (is beautiful!). Learn how to do things with the hands. Nothing first that is not in the hands. The architect should learn also from the artisan how to love his own work, how beautiful is to make for the pleasure of making.” (Gio Ponti from ‘Amate l’architettura’, ‘Love architecture’-, page 111-112). The 969 is a superb example of the classical aspiration of Ponti’s style where few singular elements compound in a unique combination: the volute of the backrest is a tribute to decoration that becomes a structural element, the lower cross underneath that unbalances the symmetry creating a tension between rule and unexpected, the triangular flared legs decreasing down and upwards. A style steeped in elegance and uniqueness.