Giò Ponti Gio Ponti ( 18 November 1891 , Milan – 16 September 1979 , Milan ) was one of the most important Italian architects , industrial designers , furniture designers , artists , and publishers of the twentieth century . Early life . Ponti ' s parents were Enrico Ponti and Giovanna Rigone . He did military service during World War I in the Pontonier Corps with the rank of captain , from 1916 to 1918 , receiving the Bronze Medal and the Italian Military Cross . Giovanni Ponti graduated with a degree in Architecture in 1921 from the Politecnico di Milano University . Also in 1921 , he married Giulia Vimercati ; they eventually would have four children and eight grandchildren . Architecture . Ponti began his architectural career in partnership with Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia from 1923 through 1927 , and then through 1933 with Lancia only , as " Studio Ponti e Lancia PL " . In these years he was influenced by and associated with the Milanese neo - classical Novecento Italiano movement . Output of the time includes the 1925 house on Via Randaccio in Milan , the 1926 Bouilhet villa in Garches , Paris , the 1929 " Monument to the Fallen " with the Novecento architect Giovanni Muzio , the Casa Rasini apartment blocks in Milan , and the 1930 Domus Julia – Domus Fausta complex on Via Letizia . Around 1933 , Ponti ended his relationship with Lancia and teamed with two engineers , Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini , to form " Studio Ponti - Fornaroli - Soncini " which would last until 1945 . Their first major commission was the 1936 company headquarters for the Italian chemical firm Montecatini , followed by a number of other industrial and university commissions through the war years , offices for Fiat , and the " Palazzo del Liviano " for the University of Padua in which Ponti himself painted frescos . Ponti in 1950 won the commission to design the 32 - story Pirelli Tower in collaboration with Pier Luigi Nervi and Arturo Danusso . This was the second skyscraper built in Milan , and likely the climax of Ponti ' s entire career . Construction began in 1956 . In 1951 , Ponti designed the master plan , and two individual block contributions , for the IINA l ' Istituto Nazionale per le Assicurazione ) Casa quarter housing project in Milan . In 1952 he went into partnership with the architect Alberto Rosselli ( " Studio Ponti - Fornaroli - Rosselli , P . F . R . " : 1952 – 1976 ) ; after the death of Rosselli he continued to work with his longtime partner Antonio Fornaroli . From 1953 to 1957 , he built the " Hotel della Città et de la Ville " and the " Centro Studi Fondazione Livio e Maria Garzanti " , in Forlì ( Italy ) , by the assignment of Aldo Garzanti , a famous Italian publisher . As the Pirelli Tower attracted more attention , international commissions came in to Ponti ' s office , for Caracas , Venezuela , ( Villa Planchart ) , Baghdad , Hong Kong , Eindhoven and the 1971 Denver Art Museum , and finally a series of Milanese churches : San Francesco in 1963 , the church at Ospedale San Carlo in 1967 , and the Taranto Cathedral in 1971 . Between 1960 and 1962 Ponti designed and realize the first Italian Hotel Design : the Parco dei Principi ( Sorrento ) Industrial design . In 1923 Ponti made his public debut at the first Biennial Exhibition of the Decorative Arts in Monza , which was followed by his involvement in organising the subsequent Triennial Exhibitions of Monza and Milan . From 1923 to 1930 Ponti worked at the Manifattura Ceramica Richard Ginori , in Milan and Sesto Fiorentino , changing the company ' s whole output . Other industrial design work includes : Other work . In 1928 he founded " Domus " magazine . In 1941 he resigned as editor of " Domus " and set up " Stile " magazine , which he edited until 1947 . In 1948 he returned to Domus , where he remained as editor until his death . From 1936 to 1961 he worked as a professor on the permanent staff of the Faculty of Architecture at Politecnico di Milano University . Awards . In 1934 he was given the title of " Commander " of the Royal Order of Vasa in Stockholm . He also obtained the Accademia d ' Italia Art Prize for his artistic merits , as well as a gold medal from the Paris Académie d ' Architecture . Finally , he obtained an honorary Doctorate from the London Royal College of Art .