Enchanting architecture

The book celebrates, through a dual narrative path, the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm, designed and furnished by Gio Ponti on commission from Carlo Maurilio Lerici. The authors' contributions aim to delve into aspects related to the commission, the planning and realisation of the building and the interior design.

Accompanying the volume are a selection of images from the Institute's historical archive and a new photographic reportage on the architectural and design elements that characterise the building.

If Ponti's interest in Sweden is a well-known topic (think of the space dedicated to Swedish design in the pages of "Domus" magazine since the early 1950s), it is interesting to delve deeper and find answers regarding the dynamics that enlivened the building's construction. In fact, Gio Ponti went beyond the original idea of Swedish architect Ture Wennerholm to create a project where spaces, although organised according to their function, follow one another in a harmonious interplay of broken lines and alternating colours. He was joined in this endeavour by Pier Luigi Nervi and Ferruccio Rossetti.

Gio Ponti gives life to a 'modern classic' project, where art and architecture come together, demonstrating that he has overcome the limits dictated by the fashions of the time. And thus lays the foundations for a new course in cultural relations between Italy and Sweden.