Chair, from the Montecatini Headquarters, Milan, 1938 Designed by Gio (Giovanni) Ponti (Italian, 1891-1979) Manufactured by Kardex Italiano, Italy XX1990.815 From its beginnings in the 1920s, the Fascist regime in Italy stressed autarchy, or economic self-sufficiency, as an important part of its policy. The autarchy campaign took on added urgency in 1935, when the League of Nations imposed strict economic sanctions on Italy in response to its invasion of Ethiopia. Italian industry was mandated to use only native resources. One of those resources was aluminum, a material extracted from bauxite (in which Italian soil is very rich). In 1936 the Milanese architect Gio Ponti designed the headquarters of Montecatini, the largest Italian mineral and chemical industry, as well as the principal supplier of aluminum in Italy. The Montecatini building serves as a manifesto for autarchy; its roof and large gates were made of aluminum, as was the office furniture. Back to Political Propaganda Main Back to Collections Main