'design is what the italians do naturally. spontaneously. it is restraint, harmony, and balance. not to exaggerate or overdo. to be careful and rigorous.' piero fornasetti fornasetti was a friend of giò ponti, the milanese architect, designer and founder of the italian magazine 'domus' (ponti was over twenty years older than fornasetti). from the late 1940s onwards they collaborated closely: ponti producing the designs for furniture and interiors, fornasetti adding the decoration.