HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE

WORKS OF GIO PONTI AND PIER LUIGI NERVI

 Giovanni "Gio" Ponti
Born and studied architecture in Milan Founded the Domus magazine in 1928.
After serving in World War I worked as
Ceramics manufacturer. (1923-1930)
decorating simple ceramic forms with
elegant neo-classica motifs, drawing
on Italys Roman heritage

Established Ponti as the godfather of

post-war Italian design.
Gio Ponti for Richard Ginori Returend to architecture by 1930
Leonia a glazed ceramic Industrial designing during 1950s
Industrial design

Distex arm chair Superleggera chair

 LOVE ARCHITECTURE, BE IT ANCIENT OR MODERN. LOVE IT FOR ITS
F A N T A S T I C , A D V E N T U R O U S A N D S O L E M N C R E AT I O N S ; F O R I T S
I N V E N T I O N S ; F O R T H E A B S T R A C T, A L L U S I V E A N D F I G U R AT I V E F O R M S
T H AT E N C H A N T O U R S P I R I T A N D E N R A P T U R E O U R T H O U G H T S . L O V E
A R C H I T E C T U R E , T H E S TA G E A N D S U P P O R T O F O U R L I V E S .

(Modernist sentiment)
Industry is the style of the 20th century, its mode of creation.
Design philosophy
buildings should harmonise form with function

correct use of materials

Stairs of Palazzo EIAR Milan by Gio Ponti Palazzo Montedoria by Gio Ponti
North Building, Denver Art Museum Glass tiles
Outer walls covered in over one million flat and pyramidal grey
glass tiles

Wall Patterns
Some of the tiles are flat and some are pyramid-shaped. Hence
different patterns on the exterior walls depending on the wea-
ther, time of day, and season

Windows
square, rectangle, and diamond-shaped elongated hexagon or
diamond windows.

Roofline
Rectangular cutouts and swooping curves along the roofline
form sky windows (termed by Joal Cronenwett)
 Pier Luigi Nervi
Born June 21, 1891 studied Civil Engineering at the Univer-
Known both as an architect sity of Bologna.
and an engineer co-founded the building firm Nervi and
explored the limitations of reinforced Bartoli
concrete by creating a variety of
inventive structural projects
 The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, California, USA

Drawing on more traditional

roots of Catholic cathedrals use
of stained glass

emphasizes both the vertical and the horizontal

At the top plane of the structure, the four lines of glass

change direction, running horizontal and creating a
cross with the mosaic glass patterns.
 57 metres high.
Four corner pylons, each one designed to
withstand ten million pounds of pressure

Four corner pylons, each one designed to withstand

ten million pounds of pressure
Pirelli tower , Milan
Designed by Gio Ponti and Pier Luigi Nervi

One of the earliest examples of modern skyscrapers in Italy.

127 meters high

opposed to the conventional rectilinear volume which was

prevalent in Americaencouraging greater creative freedom

during a time when skyscrapers typically lacked experimentation.

 The tower included two levels below grade containing parking for 800 cars,
a 600-seat auditorium, a staff cafeteria, and conference spaces

The floors above hosted open office space with movable partitions for
maximum adaptability

centrally located circulation and services

The narrow edges of the structure are glazed between floor slabs, while
the triangular spaces on each side of the corridor accommodate mechanical
ducts and emergency circulation.
 the first tower in the world to use a 25 meter long span frame

featured concrete piers that become gradually thinner as they

approach the top (from 80 inches to 20 inches).

Anodized aluminium mullions located outside of the slabs hold

the panes together to create a good curtain wall

A thin roof, supported by a secondary structure, appears to hover

over the building.