The great variety of events at the Italian Cultural Institute on Park Avenue at 68th St runs through politics and film through art and design, and the latest exhibition there shows the chairs, floor coverings and other designs of Gio Ponti, a noted designer whose clean lines are much admired in Holland and Scandinavia, though his furniture is a touch more robust than the Scandinavians prefer, judging from the reclining chair and the bright shiny metal upright on show here May 16 Thu as the introduction to a panel discussion by the inimitable Dr Vittorio Viale, the director and a philosopher whose wide interests are reflected in the diverse program mounted for the current year of celebrations of Italian culture.

One couple visiting from Holland was an admirer of Ponti's designs, the architect Wim Van Der Walk and his daughter Esther, who had come over to New York City for a weekend.