Visionary and revolutionary designer, Addio maestro Mari

In 1972 at the MoMA of New York took place the exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape curated by Emilio Ambasz, chief curator of design department of this institution. Amabsz understood how relevant was the new generation of Italian designers, creatives who reconstructed the definition of domestic landscape. Designers such as Ettore Sottsass, Joe Colombo, Superstudio, ecc… All these eccentric designers illustrated an innovative project relative to relationship between furniture, landscape and human. In addition we have to consider that these works had been realized in occasion of this exhibition.

However only a designer refused to develop or show a furniture instead he brought a testament about how design had to be, he was Enzo Mari a young revolutionary designer. In his letter for this exhibition he wrote: “I. Enunciazione della propria visione utopistica dello sviluppo della società. II. Definizione di una strategia ritenuta appropriata per il raggiungimento di questo ideale. III. Affermazione di cosa ha attualmente raggiunto nel momento tattico di questa strategia. IV. Sincronizzazione della sua ricerca con quel momento tattico. V. Comunicazione del lavoro di ricerca in questione (essendo in panico di ricordare che questo dovrebbe essere in riferimento ai punti precedenti).” Thanks to this statement we can easily note how different was design’s idea for Mari in relation to his colleague’s view. Mari was for a design that can help people to live better, in the opposite way to develop unnecessary furniture for an utopist society of the future. In particular he strongly believed in the importance of communication as discipline that can help designers and people to understand better the evolution of Italian design.

Theoretically, Enzo Mari had left us an important lesson about planning an useful, timeless and unique design products, which respond at contemporary issue, rather than talk about an imaginative future. We have to be contemporary, to be strictly intertwined about nowadays issues, and we can do it thanks to Enzo Mari’s projects. Mari had designed many products in relation to children, such as puzzles that help children to train their creativity. He also designed different office furniture made by durable material, in respect of nature. Enzo Mari had been a truly visionary, who had been able to design and develop a better future for many generations of citizens.