Fontanarte is founded in 1932 by the architect Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana
Work of the company was initially distinguished by its realization from artistic canopies, of which much is always functional elements today, among them Duomo from Milan and the Cathedral from Brasilia.
By using glass, Ponti understood what the enormous potential of this material could offer in the manufacture and the design of the complements for interiors and it started to design and produce pieces of furniture, lamps and objects with glass like the principal characteristic. Soon a new collection was ready to be marketed and its new concept of design was used like a complement with interior decoration of much of houses which it personally designed.

During years, FontanaArte had many competitors to its designs, including Pietro Chiesa, Gae Aulenti, Pierluigi Cerri, Piero Castiglioni, Vico Magistretti, Vittorio Gregotti, Ettore Sottsass, Umberto Riva, Alvaro Siza and Renzo Piano, max Ingrand.