Architect, designer, art director, writer, poet, critic and all-round artist, Gio Ponti has been also the great “enabler” of Italian design, the man who enthused Italian industry and Italian society for the wonders of new design.

40 years on from Gio Ponti's death, we are proud to present an unpublished text by Joseph Rykwert.

Joseph Rykwert (born 1926) is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historians and critics of his generation. Rykwert is the author of many influential works on architecture, including The Idea of a Town (1963), On Adam’s House in Paradise (1972), The Dancing Column (1996) and The Seduction of Place (2000). All his books have been translated into several languages. Joseph Rykwert is the 2014 recipient of the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal.