Confetti - Gio Ponti And The Parco Dei Principi

A display of Ponti’s beloved ceramic tiles at the Triennale di Milano offers the occasion to peruse his design for the Parco dei Principi Hotel in Sorrento and the restoration of its exact original appearances, including an adjustment to changed standards in norms and technology with which today’s places of public hospitality must comply.

- Fabrizio Mautone

“I built a hotel in Sorrento and, even though it wasn’t necessary, I wanted each of its 100 rooms to have different flooring. I did it out of my age-old love for ceramics. When I am able to use them, I am stimulated to do more than is asked of me. So, with 30 different patterns, each of which can be combined in two, three or even four ways, I was able to reach 100. The one you see here is among those that gave me the greatest joy while inventing them. (I always think about these infinite possibilities of art: just give someone a square, 20 by 20, and even though over the centuries just about everyone has gone wild with infinite designs, there is always room for a new one, for your one. A very witty friend asked me what would happen after the last designer made the last design, when all designs were done. Nothing, because there will never be a final design, and there will never be a final designer.) I had these tiles for the seaside hotel made in dark blue, light blue and white by D’Agostino of Salerno. Their impeccable charm lies in the perfection and shininess of these very durable floors (and walls) and in the fact they are all in a shade of blue. Something I enjoy doing is making all rooms in a single colour. My house is all yellows; the hotel in Sorrento all blues; and another hotel that one day will open in Rome is in greens.” 1 After his previous work on the Hotel Royal in Naples, the Milanese architect was entrusted by the engineer Roberto Fernandes with the complete design of a new hotel in Sorrento