Salone Del Mobile 2018: Focus on gio Ponti

In 1958 Gio Ponti was enlisted to design the auditorium for the Time & Life Building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in New York. The building housed the headquarters of Time Inc., publisher of influential, historical magazines such as Time, Life, Fortune, People, and Sports Illustrated – the cream of American publishing. This was Ponti’s most prestigious project in New York. Ponti designed the entire auditorium, including the interior and the furnishings

The D.859.1 table, designed primarily as a meeting table for up to ten people, stands out among the auditorium furnishings not only for its impressive size—over 3,60 meters long—but especially for its simple yet refined design. The legs are notable for their fine-membered modernity, creating a trapezoidal single-span bridge upon which the large tapered top conveys the idea of aerodynamics. Originally made of solid ash with bronze ferrules, it is now also available in a darker-toned wood such as Black Stained Ash. In addition to its original dimensions, the D.859.1 is available in two smaller version that faithfully reproduce the harmony and proportions of the original design.