by Federica Capoduri.
"I'm convinced that design corresponds to a profound human drive, like the survival instinct, hunger, and sex. We are a species that wants to change its environment." – Enzo Mari.
Born on April 27, 1932 in Cerano, a small town on the banks of the Ticino River in the province of Novara, Enzo Mari trained at the Brera Academy and, from the late 1950s, dedicated himself to the world of industrial design.
After his studies, he immediately began a prolific collaboration with Danese, the company founded in 1957 by Bruno Danese, one of the most enlightened entrepreneurs of all time, taking the first steps in a career that helped write the history of design.
16 Animals, an educational puzzle game produced by Danese Milano, 1959. Photo by Federico Villa
Mari dedicated his entire life – almost always lived in Milan, where he passed away in the pandemic-hit October 2020, at the age of 88, followed just one day later by his wife Lea Vergine – to researching and placing ethics as the objective for every project, be it a vase, a calendar, a chair or an installation.
Kit, 2002. Multiple with the components for building a 1:5 scale model of the P Chair, Corraini Edizioni, Mantua, aluminum frame with photo, technical drawing, nails, and balsa wood planks. Photo by Gianluca Di Ioia © Triennale Milano
For Mari, the designer, as a professional, carries an enormous responsibility. It's a difficult, serious, and thoughtful profession, where working always means doing something extra: ranging, drawing, thinking, breaking, and reassembling. Design, therefore, shouldn't be limited to the creation of objects with aesthetically pleasing forms: the functional aspect is essential, as are the method and efficiency of design choices regarding materials and workmanship.
The Chicken and the Egg, Emme Edizioni, polychrome print on coated paper, 1969. Photo by Gianluca Di Ioia © Triennale Milano
Gruff and bearded, dry in his features and words, detached from the use of the terms "designer" and "creativity"—which he always fought to bring back into a more critical and profound definition—far removed from what design was becoming from the late 1990s onward: a boom of schools, eclectic figures, and companies swallowed up by an increasingly bulimic market. Enzo Mari instead focused on disseminating manifestos and numerous books, as a good theoretician that he was, that would make people "think."
Putrella series, a natural iron tray for Danese Milano, 1958, photo by Fabio and Sergio Grazzani. Right: Formosa, a perpetual wall calendar, 1963, and Timor, a tabletop calendar, 1966, both produced for Danese Milano.
Throughout his career – a true self-taught artist in many respects, including in the art of bonsai – he has produced over 1500 products , designed for historic companies, from Danese to Corraini, from Driade to Zanotta, from Artemide to Alessi.
By force of removal, “broken vase”, 1994. Right: Camicia, flower vase in glass and aluminum tube, for Danese Milano, 1961. Photo Federico Villa
The passion and duty to design "with care" were thus expressed in a long analysis, made up of research and an endless series of sketches and prototypes , which brought the final project almost to its perfect synthesis: clean, always elegant, simple but thoughtful in every minute detail. Ready to be shared.
Museum, wall coat rack for Zanotta, 1991. Photo © Zanotta
Red Museum, special edition. Photo © Zanotta
Mari, the "conscience" of designers, as Alessandro Mendini calls him, was an exponent of the Kinetic Art movement—an experience he shared with Bruno Munari, the only person who perhaps had the privilege of influencing him—and a teacher for many years. He won the prestigious Compasso d'Oro award five times : four for projects and one for lifetime achievement.
Tonietta, chair for Zanotta, 1985. Photo © Zanotta
The Milan Triennale dedicated a stunning exhibition to him in the very year of his death, almost as a premonition. As with all greats, the poetics and sense of design encapsulated in this exhibition emerge without much explanation, but rather require patience and a listening ear, calm and curiosity.
Enzo Mari, Alessandro Mendini, and Michele De Lucchi, Galleria Antonia Jannone, Milan, 2015. Photo © Adicorbitta
In this regard, it's incredibly interesting to hear Michele De Lucchi's thoughts on Mari—another Maestro, but far more docile and open—to understand him more deeply, as he would have wanted.
Michele Masneri in conversation with Michele De Lucchi
The cover image features a portrait of Enzo Mari. Photo by Ramak Fazel
