Color as material: ceramic surfaces in the work of Gio Ponti in Milan (1927-1970)

The study is based on the analysis of the design and operational path conducted by the architect Gio Ponti on modern ceramic materials between the late 1920s and the early 1970s, with particular attention to applications in the Milanese context. The city of Milan represents a laboratory for experimenting with aesthetic, plastic and chromatic potential of modern ceramic surfaces. The analysis of archival documentation preserved at the Archive CSAC of the University of Parma, at the Gio Ponti Archives in Milan and at the Archivio Progetti of the Iuav University of Venice, has provided a deeper understanding of the Gio Ponti's design path in the employment of ceramic material at different scales, from the design of specific lines of ceramics for industry, to their application in building-site. The second part of the research identifies and describes the conservation problems of modern ceramic surfaces, with the aim of highlighting both the cultural and technical aspects that are affecting the conservation of this heritage. Connected to the latter aspect is an innovative focus on the principal deterioration phenomena of modern ceramic surfaces related to different types of substrates, providing in-depth knowledge that opens up new strategies for their conservation.