Gio Ponti, byname of Giovanni Ponti   (b. Nov. 18, 1891, Milan, Italy—d. Sept. 15, 1979, Milan), Italian architect and designer associated with the development of modern architecture and modern industrial design in Italy. Ponti graduated in 1921 from the Milan Polytechnic. From 1923 to 1938 he did industrial design for the Richard-Ginori pottery factory. In 1928 he founded the magazine Domus, which influenced interior decoration, serving as its editor until 1946. In 1933 Ponti was appointed to the executive committee of the Fifth Milan Triennale, an international exhibition ...