DOMUS 1928-1999
A Privileged Insight into Architecture and Design
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This twelve volume reprint - covering the years 1928-1999 and including over 7,000 pages and 20,000 images - charts the extraordinary history of modern architecture and design, from the birth of the International Style to Late Modern. This project has been both an exciting collaboration between two major publishing companies, and a wonderful journey of discovery. It has allowed our editors to work as archeologists, unearthing long-forgotten gems of architecture and design from over 200,000 original pages that they have scoured for our final selection of highlights.
Gio Ponti's Vision
Since its inception in 1928, domus has been guided by Gio Ponti's vision of a forum that would offer a privileged insight into the style of a particular age, while also identifying and promoting the work of its "discoveries": the most progressive designers and architects working in Italy (such as Studio BBPR and Carlo Mollino) and abroad (from Richard Neutra to Richard Rogers). The most important journal of its kind, with a national and international profile, domus has had a major influence on Italian visual culture, and on architecture and design worldwide. Moreover, the importance of what the magazine chose to feature was (and still is) matched by the cutting-edge graphic design used in its presentation. For instance, the sheer dynamism of the covers (many by famous designers/artists such as Herbert Bayer, Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Max Bill, Paul Klee, Lucio Fontana, Le Corbusier, Charles Eames, Milton Glaser, and, of course, Gio Ponti himself) was startlingly forward-looking and placed the publication firmly within the avant-garde.
Rotation of Talent
domus originally started out as a lifestyle magazine with articles on cookery, gardening, and even animal husbandry. After the first few issues, though, it increasingly focused on its strengths: architecture, interior design, product and industrial design, and, to a lesser extent, fine art and photography. Since Ponti's departure from the editorship in the 1960s, the publication has maintained its visual and intellectual vitality in part through its unique policy of replacing its main editor every five years. This rotation of talent has brought a variety of leading figures to the role, including Cesare Maria Casati, Alessandro Mendini, and Mario Bellini. Each newcomer is also expected to appoint an art director to implement a complete redesign of the magazine. Naturally the interests of these editors have led to different directions and emphases - for example, the Bellini and Mendini periods stand in marked contrast to each other in terms of content and aesthetics.
Page [1] [2]
Page [1] [2]
This twelve volume reprint - covering the years 1928-1999 and including over 7,000 pages and 20,000 images - charts the extraordinary history of modern architecture and design, from the birth of the International Style to Late Modern. This project has been both an exciting collaboration between two major publishing companies, and a wonderful journey of discovery. It has allowed our editors to work as archeologists, unearthing long-forgotten gems of architecture and design from over 200,000 original pages that they have scoured for our final selection of highlights.
Gio Ponti's Vision
Since its inception in 1928, domus has been guided by Gio Ponti's vision of a forum that would offer a privileged insight into the style of a particular age, while also identifying and promoting the work of its "discoveries": the most progressive designers and architects working in Italy (such as Studio BBPR and Carlo Mollino) and abroad (from Richard Neutra to Richard Rogers). The most important journal of its kind, with a national and international profile, domus has had a major influence on Italian visual culture, and on architecture and design worldwide. Moreover, the importance of what the magazine chose to feature was (and still is) matched by the cutting-edge graphic design used in its presentation. For instance, the sheer dynamism of the covers (many by famous designers/artists such as Herbert Bayer, Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Max Bill, Paul Klee, Lucio Fontana, Le Corbusier, Charles Eames, Milton Glaser, and, of course, Gio Ponti himself) was startlingly forward-looking and placed the publication firmly within the avant-garde.
Rotation of Talent
domus originally started out as a lifestyle magazine with articles on cookery, gardening, and even animal husbandry. After the first few issues, though, it increasingly focused on its strengths: architecture, interior design, product and industrial design, and, to a lesser extent, fine art and photography. Since Ponti's departure from the editorship in the 1960s, the publication has maintained its visual and intellectual vitality in part through its unique policy of replacing its main editor every five years. This rotation of talent has brought a variety of leading figures to the role, including Cesare Maria Casati, Alessandro Mendini, and Mario Bellini. Each newcomer is also expected to appoint an art director to implement a complete redesign of the magazine. Naturally the interests of these editors have led to different directions and emphases - for example, the Bellini and Mendini periods stand in marked contrast to each other in terms of content and aesthetics.
Page [1] [2]
The publisher of domus, Gianni Mazzocchi, with LisaLicitra Ponti and Gio Ponti in the Ponti studio, Via Dezza, Milan, 1953