“Ultimately, Autoprogettazione conveys utopia not as a vision of the future to be brought about by design (a goal that, for Mari, is unachievable and whose pursuit “generates death”) but as a novel way of doing things to be put in practice in the here and now. Utopia is not a place, says Mari, but an “ethical handrail” we can hold on to “in the labyrinth of contradictions and of compromises of this world.” “By making a chair” and using the “right nail” in doing so, for example, “you can communicate a set of values” to be realized in daily life, such as responsibility, awareness, care, agency, and manual skill. Mari’s empowering message is that the state of things is already changed at the very moment we start changing our collective mindsets and habits: “the better world” is not a distant “heaven on Earth” but is the “battle that is being fought.” Only in this way can the unfulfilled project of social transformation dreamed by the avant-gardes be turned into a practical program in the present. Now that the cracks in the empire’s wall are there for everyone to see, Autoprogettazione serves above all as a reminder that the task of remaking the world is within everyone’s ability and is more urgent than ever. It is up to us to start reaching for our toolboxes.”
Francesco Milan. November 20, 2020
Enzo Mari in his studio in Milan, 1974
Enzo Mari’s furniture designs and Autoprogettazione
Enzo Mari (born April 27, 1932, in Novara, Italy–died October 19, 2020) was a noted Italian post-Modernist artist, writer, and product and furniture designer who incorporated ideas of the arts and crafts practices and of communism as an essential part of his design practice and philosophy opposing the idea that good design is a privilege for the wealthy.
Affordability was a very important objective for Mari. He always aimed at creating design objects that were intuitive, elegant, functional, low cost and that would make a personal connection with their users. During his design process, Mari would become intimately involved with the artisans and manufacturers to ensure that his objectives of functionality, quality, and cost of his designs were met. In spite of his high standards, during his career Mari built strong collaboration with numerous design shops and furniture manufacturers of the time such as Artemide, Alessi, Zanotta, Driade, and Muji.
Enzo Mari created numerous furniture designs and projects throughout his entire career. Among these are the Elisa chair and Box chair (1971), and the Sof Sof chair (1972) for Driade; the Delfina chair (1974) for Robots, winner of the Compasso d’Oro that same year; the Sumatra filing system for Danese (1976); the Tonietta chair (1985) for Zanotta, winner of the 1987 Compasso d’Oro; the Legato table (20o1) for Dirate, winner of the Compasso d’Oro that same year.
Of all of the numerous design projects along Mari’s career, Proposta per un’Autoprogettazione (Proposal for a Self-Design) occupies a special place due to its ability to deliver a message through the creation of an object. In 1974, he published the book Autoprogettazione with instructions on how to build easy-to-assemble/do-it-yourself furniture using as raw material only rough boards and nails. In the book, Enzo Mari uses the term Autoprogettazione as a concept to bring awareness of the process of “making” and design, and instructs the reader to build practical and useful furniture pieces through very simple techniques; hoping that the benefits drawn from this process of “making” would be more valuable than the object being made. That same year, in 1974, Mari and Simon (Dino) Gavina collaborated in the project Metamobile, which focused on producing a small number of tables, chairs and beds using the Autoprogettazione designs at Simon Gavina’s plant in Calcinelli di Fano. These Autoprogettazione designs made through the Metamobile project were also made using simple pine wood boards, but were to be assembled with screws, washers and nuts–as opposed to using nails as was prescribed in the do-it-your-self instructions published in the Autoprogettazione book.
