The essay reconstructs the genesis of the pareti attrezzate, theorized and built by Gio Ponti between the 1940s and 1950s. Through the analysis of the articles dedicated to this subject, which appeared in the magazines “Stile” and “Domus”, from the comparison with the existing bibliography and with some original and unpublished documents produced by Ponti, and through the analysis of the original furniture, the pannello-cruscotto appear to be the coherent result of a personal poetics of modernity, which weaves unexpected relationships with Le Corbusier’s theories, and at the same time has its roots in the research on modern style and taste that Ponti promotes since the 1920s. The synthesis between the past and the contemporary present, the rejection of a dogmatic modernity superficially linked to the forms and the visual language, the renewal of tradition, emerge from an unpublished writing dedicated to the villa L’Ange Volant with accents similar to those of the writings about the post-war furnishings.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

The essay presents a detailed stylistic analysis of the colored stripes ceramics by Bini & Carmignani and Ezio Nesti, concluding that the best works of these two factories, certainly not comparable with the creations of Cagli and Baldelli, still have a quality comparable to that of other Rometti’s serial artifacts. This explains both the past attribution errors and the great commercial success of the followers, who were targeting a less than elite market. The essay also identifies in some works by Gio Ponti the iconographic source to which the followers were widely inspired.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

Nearly twenty years have passed since the last major exhibition event devoted to the phenomenon of modernist Roman ceramics, over ten, also taking into account some exhibitions that represented the coherent and direct development of that event. In this long period of time, some works relating to individual artists or artistic manufacturers, at the same time, have enriched the general picture and indicated the considerable margins for further study that are still possible. This essay, therefore, first of all carries out a reasoned survey of studies on the subject, starting with the pioneering Faenza exhibition of 1988, and reconstructs the historical-critical framework that these studies have progressively outlined. If this framework has demonstrated and still demonstrates its solidity, it is also true that in recent years numerous new elements have emerged from documentary research and from the materials surveyed in the fields of collecting and the antiques market: new ceramists and new kilns, new attributions and new “cases” to be resolved. The ten cards contained in this essay are intended to exemplify this still unexplored territory. They have different levels of relevance and definition. They do not pretend to be systematic but are like notes for a hypothetical new exhibition on Roman ceramics between the end of the 1910s and the beginning of the 1930s.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

In 1931, Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum held an exhibition of modern Italian decorative arts that encompassed the fields of ceramics, glass and lace work. This unheralded exhibition is important because it was not an Italian exhibition like the Biennales of Venice or Monza but an international event that heralded the current work of the major companies. There are few records of the exhibition but there remains a comprehensive catalogue that accompanied the exhibition, a 70+ page catalog, filled with illustrations, some in color, of the work of the glass companies Artistica Barovier, MVM Cappellin, Venini e C., S.A.L.I.R., Ferro Toso, and Libero Vitali. Richard-Ginori and Lenci represented the ceramics industry and the lacework companies Jesurum, Casa Bianchini di Venezia, Olga Asta, Melville e Ziffer, Bice Colleoni from Verona, Aemilia-Ars from Bologna, Merletti di Saonara of Padova, and Mario Zennaro from Rapallo represented the lace industry. The glass section featured an unpublished series of work by Barovier, the Decorazioni policrome ‘900 series of vases, and his Primavera glass. The work of Carlo Scarpa, including the Geometrische series was highlighted in Cappellin’s section, as was the work of Napoleone Martinuzzi for Venini. The Richard–Ginori section of the catalogue highlighted the last work that Gio Ponti would do for the company. This exhibition marked the end of a very fertile period of Italian decorative arts since Martinuzzi would soon leave Venini, MVM Cappellin would enter bankruptcy, Artistica Barovier changed directions, Ponti would concentrate on Domus and the worldwide depression and the rise of Fascism would reshape every industry in Italy.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

In 1927 the XVIII century building of the Hôtel de Massa has been relocated “pierre à pierre” from its original position on the Champs-Élysées to the 38 of rue Faubourg Saint-Jacques, in the XIV arrondissement-quarter, to become the Société de gens de lettres offices. The internal refurbishment has been entrusted to Maurice Dufrêne (1876-1955), art-director of Maîtrise, the decoration department of Lafayette Galleries. Between 1928 and 1929 he transformed the interiors in a masterpiece of the French deco, employing also chandeliers and appliques produced in Murano.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

The essay illustrates a particular aspect of furniture on board ships, that of the use of vegetable fiber furniture. The author briefly illustrates the events that have seen, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the spread of wicker and rattan furniture following the interest in oriental countries. Rattan furniture are widely used in the verandas of the upper classes of ocean liners, where they are used to reconstruct the appearance of the winter gardens of residences and large continental hotels. The author offers some examples, among many possible, of Italian ships, steamships and ocean liners, from the beginning of the century to the 1930s. The events that link the spread of this particular type of furniture to the success of specialized Italian producers are also illustrated.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

The essay presents some unpublished works of ship decoration created by the scenographer Piero Zuffi, recently returned to the attention of critics after two decades of oblivion. In the fifties, having settled in Milan, Zuffi met Gio Ponti who invited him to produce a large panel for the ballroom of the liner Andrea Doria, the occasion was a harbinger of other assignments for naval works and the meeting with Nino Zoncada. The interior designer specialized in naval interiors - Zoncada collaborated with Ponti in the projects for ship outfitting - finds in Zuffi the ideal interpreter for the creation of decorations on board two ships, Ausonia in 1957 and Federico C. in 1958. Zuffi’s works are illustrated here with reference to their integration into Zoncada’s architecture. The latest naval decorative intervention is that for the Achille Lauro ship in 1966, which concludes this particular field of application of Piero Zuffi’s art.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

The essay presents for the first time the works of the artist Paolo De Poli created for the decoration of ships through the collaboration with architects Gio Ponti, Nino Zoncada, Gustavo Pulitzer, Matteo Longoni and others. The author conducted the research in the papers of the De Poli archive kept at the IUAV (University of Architecture of Venice), reconstructing the events that led to the orders of the works and their destination on board. Divided into eight thematic paragraphs, the essay examines Paolo De Poli’s activity under different aspects, determined by the destination and function of the on-board rooms, the integration with the architecture of the interiors and the experiences related to the creation of furnitures and individual items for on-board shops. The result is a complete reconstruction of Paolo De Poli’s activity linked to Italian ships.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

The essay presents an unpublished work by the architect Tomaso Buzzi (Sondrio 1900 - Rapallo 1981): the interiors of the cruiser Bolzano for the Italian Royal Navy. The author illustrates the circumstances that led, in the early 1930s, to this unusual order for the Lombard designer and the result obtained: an original naval interior in the taste and style of Art Déco. The Bolzano’s furniture, made by the Marenco company of Cuneo, see the participation of artisan workshops with which Tomaso Buzzi has a long tradition and artistic collaboration in the previous decade: lamps by the Venini glassworks in Venice and by Italo Carlotti in Milan, metal furniture by SIAM of Turin, engraved stained glass windows and other decorative elements by Fontana Arte and Pietro Chiesa. Buzzi designs, selects and checks every component and material of the outfitting, furniture, chairs, armchairs, lamps, doors, handles up to ornaments and decorative elements. The interiors of the Bolzano are a rare example of Gesamtkunstwerk applied to the interior of a warship.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.

During the interwar period, the renowned Italian decorator Giulio Rosso is involved in projects of interior decoration of two important ships: the Aurora, which was the private yacht of the Head of Government, and the Conte di Savoia, which was the first Italian ocean liner to boast a prevalently modern interior design. Thanks to the collaboration with architects such as Melchiorre Bega and Gustavo Pulitzer Finali, who championed a functional design that did not exclude decoration, Rosso contributed to the renewal of naval design. In the final part of this essay, I advance the attribution to Rosso, once again in collaboration with Bega, of some interior decoration of the Diana, the yacht that was supposed to replace the Aurora.

Giorgio Levi

Giorgio Levi, triestino di nascita e pisano di adozione, è stato professore ordinario di Informatica fino al 2012: uno dei fondatori della prestigiosa scuola pisana, ricercatore noto a livello internazionale, insignito dell’ordine del Cherubino. Da anni collezionista di ceramica italiana del primo novecento, si è trasformato in studioso, dedicandosi alla riscoperta e valorizzazione di ceramisti, manifatture e distretti ceramici dimenticati o mai studiati in modo scientifico. Ha pubblicato 7 libri e curato 2 mostre.