The early 1950s marked a turning point in Gio Ponti’s furniture designs, towards highly innovative solutions linked to functional and essential shapes. Several aspects pushed Ponti towards this new way of designing. The end of the Second World War, with the desire to restart and rebuild a modern world full of novelties, thus moving away from the past; the availability of innovative materials, which made it possible to conceive objects that were previously unfeasible; an industrial vision of design, thanks to the new-born Italian industry which began to produce furniture in large series. The Round project (D.154.5) fully satisfied Ponti’s design mind-set of the period.
Designed in 1954, full production began in 1956/1957 and it was officially presented at the 11th Milan Triennale in 1957. Today, Round (D.154.5) was reborn thanks to the Heritage Collection reissue project by Molteni&C, in collaboration with the Gio Ponti Archives, and it is part of the 2021 Collection.
Featuring a wooden structure of multi-layered ash and black chrome or brushed brass feet, the Round D.154.5 chair can be covered with all our range of Molteni&C textile and leather collections.
Molteni&C is re-examining its own history with an eye to the future. The 80!Molteni exhibition, the creation of the company’s historical archive and its recently inaugurated Molteni Museum have provided an opportunity for revival, from the origins of modernity.
Intriguing traces have emerged from a past that turns out to be contemporary, ripe for a re-think today. Unique pieces that can step straight out of their museum showcases and into our contemporary homes.
