Enchanting Architecture

This book celebrates, by way of a dual narrative, the Italian Cultural
Institute in Stockholm, designed and furnished by Gio Ponti to a
commission from Carlo Maurilio Lerici. The essays aim to examine the
events linked to the commission of the project itself, and to the
planning and realisation of the building together with its interior
design. The volume contains a selection of images taken from the
Institute's historical archive, as well as a new photographic reportage
on the architectural and design elements featured in this building.



It
is well-known that Ponti took a great interest in Sweden (suffice it to
think of all the space that was devoted to Swedish design in the pages
of the magazine Domus from the early 1950s), yet it is
fascinating to learn more and find answers regarding the dynamics that
lay behind the making of this structure. Indeed, Gio Ponti managed to
surpass the Swedish architect Ture Wennerholm's original idea, to
breathe life into a project where the spaces, albeit organised according
to function, succeed one another in a harmonious play of broken lines
and different hues. Assisting him in the task were Pier Luigi Nervi and
Ferruccio Rossetti.



Gio Ponti gave life to a "classical modern"
project in which art and architecture merge, proof that he had overcome
the limits that were set by the trends characterising that day and age.
In so doing, he laid the groundwork for a new course in the cultural
relations between Italy and Sweden.



Text in English and Italian.