Today we would call him a trend setter. Indeed, without Enzo Mari (Novara, 1932) the visual language we know today would probably not exist. His ideas and experiments are still incredibly contemporary today, capable of touching different areas. From design to architecture, from art to graphics. Following the exhibition at the Milan Triennale a few years ago, from March 29 Enzo Mari’s more than two hundred and fifty projects will be on display at the Design Museum in London, the first truly international retrospective devoted entirely to the Italian designer, with a production by Triennale Milano. From his early investigations into perceptual ambiguities to his research on experimental production, as well as his studies on mass production – the one on display in London is a true narrative of his design evolution. But why do we owe everything to Enzo Mari?

Mari is not a designer, if his objects were not there I would care little. Mari, on the other hand, is the consciousness of all of us, is the consciousness of designers, that matters.

A. Mendini, Domus 607, 1980

Trend setter and anthropologist

«The artist is the one who gives form to a collective value, in which everyone recognizes himself,» said Enzo Mari, who placed the study of human practices at the basis of all his designs. In addition to the word trend setter, Enzo Mari could also be approached with the definition of anthropologist. His curious approach and purposeful intention actually put him at the service of human life, always in constant search of practical solutions to facilitate and simplify our existences. Think, for example, of the iconic Timor perpetual calendar, created in 1967 for Danese Milano and inspired by old railroad signs from the 1940s.

Or even more, Mari becomes an educator, both for the public and for the manufacturers themselves, theorizing many aspects of design. The most emblematic example is 25 Ways to Drive a Nail: Sixty Years of Ideas and Designs to Defend a Dream, which opens with one of his most interesting reflections, emphasizing how Mari was no ordinary designer.

I am convinced that designing corresponds to a deep human drive, like survival instinct, hunger, sex. We are a species that wants to modify its environment

Enzo Mari

Nobel Prize to every child who turns two years old

This is the title of one of the chapters Enzo Mari devotes to children. In particular, it is the period of childhood that interests the designer quite a bit, who devotes part of his research to designing games for children. «The best games seem to me those that develop each child’s ability to produce intelligence,» Munari wrote. One of the most interesting examples is 16 Animals, a kind of jigsaw puzzle that presents a wide range of solutions. This is just one of the many projects Mari makes for children; we also remember The big stone game, a Carrara marble playground made in 1968.

Books by Enzo Mari to absolutely read

• Autoprogettazione? (Edizioni Corraini) to reflect on the constructive capacity of human beings
• 25 modi per piantare un chiodo: sessant’anni di idee e progetti per difendere un sogno (Mondadori) a kind of autobiography of Mari as well as an indispensable book for every designer and creative to understand the relationship between man and the world around him
• Il gioco delle favole (Edizioni Corraini) to stimulate creativity, especially children’s creativity

…And if you are in London by September 8, 2024, don’t miss the exhibition at the Design Museum!