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| Nieves Pick 11 |
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Enzo Mari (Italy, 1932)
Enzo Mari was born in Novara in 1932, and is one of the most authoritative exponents on the Italian design scenario. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. His work was exhibited in a number of editions of the Venice Biennial and the Triennial of Milan.
His work involves design with focus on research, projects in graphic design, product design and exhibition layout. His first project for Danese was 16 Animali, or 16 Animals, launched in 1957. It was a wooden puzzle to which Mari applied his theories of problem-solving to create a group of simply carved animal shapes – including a hippo, snake, giraffe and camel – that join together to form a rectangle. The puzzle marked the start of a long collaboration between Mari and Danese, which continued at the turn of the 1960s with the development of containers and vases. Mari was determined to develop these products for mass production without compromising his belief that the outcome of each design project should be beautiful to look at and feel, while performing its function efficiently. Describing his philosophy as one of “rational design”, he defined his work as being “elaborated or constructed in a way that corresponds entirely to the purpose or function”.
His work is on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, at the Modern Museet in Stockholm, at the Stedeljik Museum in Amsterdam, at the MusZe du Louvre in Paris, at the Kunstmuseum in Dusseldorf. He teaches at Isia in Florence and at the European Design Institute in Milan.
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