Italian architects and designers Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia collaborated on a wide range of furniture and lighting designs. Lancia was one of the main exponents of the Italian ‘Novocento’ style, a nationalistic push to return to the great representational art of Italy’s past. Ponti established himself designing iconic buildings in Milan such as the Pirelli tower, similarly preoccupied with the concept of “Italian-ness”. Together they tried to reconcile the traditional with the monumental, creating designs that would stand the test of time.