Farewell to Enzo Mari, Italian master of design

The great designer Enzo Mari passed away in Milan tonight: he was 88 years old. The announcement was made shortly after 9 a.m. this morning by architect Stefano Boeri on Twitter: an exhibition dedicated to the great Italian master of design, born in 1932 in Cerano, in the province of Novara, had just begun at the Milan Triennale (of which Boeri is president).

After attending theBrera Academy of Fine Arts, studying art and literature, Mari turned to industrial design and began working, at age 25, for the furniture company Danese. His achievements include the Putrella tray and the Pago-Pago vase for Danese, the Delfina chair, the “fairy tale game” (a game book for Corraini editions), the Piuma cutlery, and the Squeezer juicer for the Alessi brand. He had also taught at the Milan Polytechnic and several other major institutions, including the University of Parma where he had been a professor of art history. He had also won the Compasso d’Oro five times. At the time, in addition to the exhibition at the Triennale curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, there was also a reissue of one of his famous 1973 shows in Milan, entitled Hammer and Sickle. Three of the Ways an Artist Can Contribute to Class Struggle, which caused quite a stir at the time.

Fellow artist Alessandro Mendini had called him “the conscience of all designers,” while Obrist, presenting the exhibition at the Triennale last week, considered him a “contemporary Leonardo,” given the breadth of interests Enzo Mari has pursued throughout his long and important career.

Farewell to Enzo Mari, Italian master of design

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