ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the beginnings of Pietro Porcinai’s approach to garden design by focusing on the first two decades of his career through the lens of his collaborations with architects and designers. In the 1930s Ponti was one of the organizers of the Triennale, the prestigious Milanese institution whose goal was to encourage partnerships between industry and the applied arts. The partnership assembled a team capable of accepting and executing complex projects: Nello Baroni handled the architectural design; Maurizio Tempestini the interiors; Pietro Porcinai was responsible for the design of the gardens and landscapes. The lower garden’s most significant element was a swimming pool framed by large irregular stone flags, open to the landscape although screened by greenery. The architect of the Pozzuoli factory was Luigi Cosenza, a Neapolitan engineer and a leading rationalist figure who had acquired celebrity at a young age with a series of buildings of measured elegance.
