The Gio Ponti Legacy

 

The Parco Dei Principi

Standing at the top of Sorrento's towering cliffs that rise from the Bay of Naples, in a position that can only be described (appropriately) as majestic, sits a grand homage to the design of Gio Ponti.

Completed in 1962 at the height of his powers, in the grounds of an ancient villa, this hotel is an exercise of both style and much substance. Coming soon after the completion of Ponti and Nervi's Pirelli Tower in Milan, Parco dei Principi suggests earlier modernist traits and is not the natural successor to a stark but elegant late modern-era skyscraper. This is more like the setting to the sequel of Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse (even though there never was one). The rooms are minimal and almost pure in layout and furnishings, the reception is light, clean and comfortable as is the restaurant with the best local food. Everything in the hotel (tiles, furniture, fittings etc.) are all by Mr Ponti and the effect is wonderful. Flights to Naples are not expensive out of season and you can get a taxi to the hotel and then walk everywhere. In the summer there's a Ponti swimming pool too. If you want a mid-century experience, this must be one of the best in the world.

_

www.royalgroup.it

Issue 10 (July 2014)


 
 
Current Stories
The Leather Studio
The Leather Studio

Men’s File explores leather as a signifier of subcultural affiliations but also as a functional material that protects and serves the wearer, sometimes for decades. In this feature we present Lewis Leathers, The Real McCoy’s and the London Leather Man in an indulgent retro fantasy.

Riki Kawada: The Groovin High
Riki Kawada: The Groovin High

Riki’s brand is small, exclusive and doesn’t usually reflect what everyone else is doing. This genuine independence is apparent in everything the stylist wears and does.

Pike Brothers HQ
Pike Brothers HQ

This is the world of Fabian Jedlitschka and Pike Brothers. A realm in which post- war Americana and militaria are transposed, as they had been 75 years before, onto the picturesque German landscape and into the psyche of the nation’s fashionable youth.

Lou Christou & Tiffany Smith
Lou Christou & Tiffany Smith

There are certain street stylists, within the realm of male style, who ply their art on the same pavements on which George Brummel once trod. They are few, but their impact on the early moods that permeate menswear is immense.

Aluminium & Tweed: Derek Lee and the AC 12/40 Sports
Aluminium & Tweed: Derek Lee and the AC 12/40 Sports

Aboard this 1920s polished aluminium road rocket is Mr Derek Lee, a student of architecture and a young man of refined tastes. His suits are personally tailored in Hong Kong and his ability in finding original pre and directly post-war clothing is not in doubt.

Gary Eastman: 1943 WLA
Gary Eastman: 1943 WLA

Many years ago (Gary never says exactly when) Mr Eastman dismantled an ancient A2 flying jacket with the intention of finding out how it was made, with the idea of making a copy for himself. A few decades later and Eastman Leather Clothing is one of a select few of go-to brands for the serious connoisseur of replica militaria.

Nicholas Coleman Artist
Nicholas Coleman Artist

Painter, motorcyclist and collector of objects from the Old West, Nicholas Coleman lives on the edge of the old frontier town, although now very civilised, Provo, Utah.

Jacqueline Davis Art
Jacqueline Davis Art

A dedicated part-time Tiki-ist, hot-rodder and stalwart of the VHRA organisation, Jacqueline Davis is in fact a full-time professional graphic artist.

A FIAT Love Affair
A FIAT Love Affair

The innocence and elegance of pre-war Italy is encapsulated in this series of attractive vignettes featuring Alex Hills, Lucy Manley and an untouched 1935 Fiat 1500.

Five Years of Sub Seconds Omega Design in the years after WWII
Five Years of Sub Seconds Omega Design in the years after WWII

Just 5 years separate the four watches discussed on these pages, and each has their own unique personality and story to tell.

Tim Scott: Photographer
Tim Scott: Photographer

When Pomona resident Tim Scott told us ‘I wasn’t born into the hot-rodding world’ we imagined a newcomer who had recently stumbled on the scene and cynically recognised its visual potential.

Inspired by ‘72
Inspired by ‘72

Allow us to introduce you to a line of supercars (the 911 Targa to be precise), that started in 1967 and a far more contemporary ‘super-woman’, both with impeccable credentials.

The Telemarkers
The Telemarkers

Named after a province in the south east of Norway, Telemarking is a form of skiing that owes more to practicality than to sport.

Ryan McMenamy: Artist
Ryan McMenamy: Artist

The Talented and ultra-stylish New York artist (more recently of Stockbridge, Mass.) gives a masterclass in sketching in charcoal from his studio on the Lower Eastside.

Molly Asbury x 1960 Chevrolet Corvair 500
Molly Asbury x 1960 Chevrolet Corvair 500

The Corvair was packed with innovations, but nevertheless controversial.

Benci Brothers: Scrambler Boot (Product Review)
Benci Brothers: Scrambler Boot (Product Review)

Flaviano Bencivenga is a gentleman of taste and action. A dedicated motorcycle collector and rider the Zurich-based shoe designer spends much time developing both new styles.

Les Motocyclettistes (France)
Les Motocyclettistes (France)

Pierre Girard (pictured) is a classic example of a one-man subculture. He creates clothing that he would like to wear and use on his extensive collection of motorcycles...

What is Northern Soul? A Personal Journey into Subculture
What is Northern Soul? A Personal Journey into Subculture

Northern Soul is a dance and music based subculture that flourished in the northwest of England at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

The Great Frog
The Great Frog

Somewhere in East London, lost among the crowded grid of Victorian terraced housing and forgotten warehouses, an earnest craftsman hunches over his workbench.

Architecture FileDan BlackGio Ponti, Parco dei Principi, Sorrento, Naples, modernist