WHAT?  Enzo Mari

WHERE?  Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG

WHEN?  Now until 8th September 

WHY GO?  To discover a design purist. Chances are many of the everyday objects we take for granted will have been inspired, if not initially designed, by an Italian we have never even heard of. 

Think of brands like Le Creuset and Castelli and you get the picture and this enthralling retrospective tells of the man from Milan behind so many of life’s iconic objects including the timeless perpetual calendar. 

Enzo Mari, who died in 2020 at the age of 88, was a giant of Italian design with an irascible personality who spoke his mind and railed against our dependency on the digital world along with much of the media's interpretation of modern design.

What he would think of having his life’s work revered by the media today is intriguing. 

All is revealed in this epic exhibition which remains true to his lifelong respect for the working man, featuring everything from labourer’s farm tools to daybeds, steel trays to china bows and especially significant, his famous designs for childrens’ toys. 

Mari’s interlocking wooden puzzle, 16 Animals, created in 1957, has became an iconic ‘toy’ almost too beautiful to play with and famously shared by cool parents.

Politics influenced his work as he purposefully strove to serve society, “design is for people, not for profit” he states.  

Dip into the video interviews with Mari and the exhibition’s eminent curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, for a fascinating overview of what made this uncompromising designer tick, as you appreciate his legacy!

IN THE KNOW Thirteen London based contemporary designers pay homage to this master of Italian design and are exhibiting an item he inspired.  Grazia Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari is on display in the Museum’s balcony (for free) throughout the duration of the exhibition.