D.151.4, Armchair, by Gio Ponti, 21st Century

An architect, furniture and industrial designer and editor, Gio Ponti was arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism.

Ponti designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, mirrors and chairs to ceramics and coffeemakers — and his buildings, including the brawny Pirelli Tower (1956) in his native Milan, and the castle-like Denver Art Museum (1971), were erected in 14 countries. Through Domus, the magazine he founded in 1928, Ponti brought attention to virtually every significant movement and creator in the spheres of modern art and design.

The questing intelligence Ponti brought to Domus is reflected in his work: as protean as he was prolific, Ponti’s style can’t be pegged to a specific genre.

In the 1920s, as artistic director for the Tuscan porcelain maker Richard Ginori, he fused old and new; his ceramic forms were modern, but decorated with motifs from Roman antiquity. In pre-war Italy, modernist design was encouraged, and after the conflict, Ponti — along with designers such as Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso — found a receptive audience for their novel, idiosyncratic work. Ponti’s typical furniture forms from the period, such as the wedge-shaped Distex chair, are simple, gently angular, and colorful; equally elegant and functional. In the 1960s and ’70s, Ponti’s style evolved again as he explored biomorphic shapes, and embraced the expressive, experimental designs of Ettore Sottsass Jr., Joe Colombo and others.

Ponti's signature furniture piece — the one by which he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Germany’s Vitra Design Museum and elsewhere — is the sleek Superleggera chair, produced by Cassina starting in 1957. (The name translates as “superlightweight” — advertisements featured a model lifting it with one finger.)

Ponti had a playful side, best shown in a collaboration he began in the late 1940s with the graphic artist Piero Fornasetti. Ponti furnishings were decorated with bright finishes and Fornasetti's whimsical lithographic transfer prints of things such as butterflies, birds or flowers; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts possesses a 1950 secretary from their Architetturra series, which feature case pieces covered in images of building interiors and facades. The grandest project Ponti and Fornasetti undertook, however, lies on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: the interiors of the luxury liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.

Widely praised retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art in 2001 and at the Design Museum London in 2002 sparked a renewed interest in Ponti among modern design aficionados. (Marco Romanelli’s monograph, which was written for the London show, offers a fine overview of Ponti’s work.) Today, a wide array of Ponti’s designs are snapped up by savvy collectors who want to give their homes a touch of Italian panache and effortless chic.

Find a range of vintage Gio Ponti desks, dining chairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Reda Amalou is a french architect and designer. But mostly a creator of experiences. More than 20 years ago, he created AW2 an architecture agency with the desire to take over the space and make it an emotional place. It is with the same evidence that design became a part of his work. Instead of partitioning disciplines, Reda Amalou associates them. It is about creating an impact, stirring the spirit by talking to the eye, making senses move around. In 2013, the opening of his own company REDA AMALOU DESIGN officially opened his field of work by offering furniture and objects. Each one of his creations are telling a story. Either it is about his childhood in Algeria, London’s chaos he experimented during his studies, or the tumult of his many trips around the globe, Reda Amalou is always on the look for a new discovery. He collects sparkles of stupefaction that will shine through his work. Pieces of life, tributes to craftsmanship and multiculturalism, are making their way to interiors with an incredible flow and ease. His collections are built around material. Leather, bronze, glass, wood, eggshell, lacquer, and so on, each variation communicate with elegance. The pieces are magnificent, but their balance makes them more personal, more informal. Beyond the main collection, some exceptional pieces are made by craftsman specialized in Art. They are gathered in the Galerie Collection in limited edition 8 pieces for each one of them which are signed and four artists drafts.