Only a few days ago at the Milan Triennale, what was supposed to be a tribute to one of the most important and innovative designers of the twentieth century was inaugurated: Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli. Enzo Mari, protagonist of this exhibition (which will remain open until April 18, Electa catalog) died yesterday in Milan at the age of 88 at the San Raffaele hospital where he had been hospitalized for some time. A creative and intellectual journey marked by over 1,500 objects and five Compassi d’Oro, of which the last (for his career) in 2011. A life, that of one of the masters who contributed to the rise of Made in Italy, told , with irony and intelligence, in his latest book, published in 2011 by Mondadori and with the title that already defines the spirit and philosophy of Mari 25 ways to drive a nail.
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Trained at the Brera Academy, he was born in Cerano, in the province of Novara, on April 27, 1932, but has always lived in Milan (where he was a long-time professor at the Polytechnic). A deep bond, that of Mari with Milan, testified by the president of the Triennale Stefano Boeri in his farewell message published on Facebook: «Hello Enzo. You go from Giant ». Among other things, Mari had chosen to donate his entire archive in Milan: technical drawings, models, prototypes, transparencies, drawings, proofs, posters, works of art, photographs, books and catalogs (from 1952 to 2015) intended to be rearranged, preserved and made available to the public at the Casva, the Center for Advanced Studies on Visual Arts.
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Noted for its tough (if not difficult) character, Mari has participated in avant-garde movements since the 1950s, but has always rejected the cliché of the abstract intellectual away from the public, focusing instead on a philosophy of design as an activity aimed at transforming society: “I only know that just one thing it must be produced, sold, it is a commodity ”. With his rigor, with the formal elegance of his objects, with his political and social commitment, Enzo Mari was an essential point of reference for the world of design, as another master of Italian design had certified at the time. , Alessandro Mendini: «Mari is not a designer, if her objects weren’t there I wouldn’t care much. Mari, on the other hand, is the conscience of all of us, the conscience of the designers, this matters ».
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A conscience, that of Mari, who also knew (and wanted) to be uncomfortable: when on 9 April 1973 the Galleria Milano was inaugurated with a personal exhibition entitled Sickle and hammer. Three of the ways an artist can contribute to the class struggle, the sensation is great above all because that exhibition (just re-proposed by the same Milanese gallery until January 16) represented a way to read the epochal change that had affected not only society, but also the cultural fabric and the deepest spirit of the city of Milan. After a lively debate, the film is shown on the same evening as the inauguration Political committees – Testimonies on workers’ struggles in Italy in the spring of ’71, made by Mari with the Working Group, made up of some students from the Experimental Center of Cinematography in Rome.
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Mari has re-designed our domestic landscape (and not only) with objects that have become true icons over time: the tray Putrella (Danish); chairs Soft Soft (Driade) e Delfina (Rexite), the waste paper basket On hold and the wall calendar Formosa (Danish); the chair Tonietta (Zanotta); the pots Copernicus and cutlery Feather (Zani & Zani); lo spremilimoni Squeezer (Alessi), the umbrella stand Erechtheum and the coat hanger Togo (More).
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Friend and colleague of the great Bruno Munari, which inspired him for his own 16 animals, the famous interlocking puzzle designed in 1956 and put up for sale by Danese in 1957, Mari conceived design as a social function, as a political commitment, which (thanks to the refined minimalism of his projects) he had managed to impose even in the living rooms of the rich Milanese bourgeoisie. A commitment that today seems to be truly lacking in many contemporary designers.
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19 October 2020 (change October 19, 2020 | 12:28)
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