Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

In the archive complex the documentation of his activity from 1952 to 2015. It will be hosted by CASVA for which an investment of 7 million and 350 thousand euros is expected

Milan, February 7 2020 – The Council today approved the resolution to accept the donation by Enzo Mari of his professional archive from 1952 to 2015. From today therefore the archive complex which collects all the professional activity of the great architect, artist and designer, five times winner of the Compasso d'Oro, becomes part of the Milanese civic heritage.

The archive, whose value has been estimated at half a million euros, is divided into approximately 1.500 projects and consists, among other things, of technical documentation, models, prototypes, transparencies, drawings, technical drawings, print tests, posters, works of art, art multiples, production samples, the photographic archive, books and catalogues, by Enzo Mari and about Enzo Mari.

Enzo Mari wanted to donate it to the Municipality of Milan so that it could be rearranged, preserved, cataloged and made available to the public within the archival collections of CASVA | Center of Advanced Studies on the Visual Arts, which are thus enriched with a new important contribution, as well as many prestigious others including those of Luciano Baldessari, Roberto Sambonet, Studio DDL (Jonathan De Pas, Donato D'Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi) and Vittorio Gregotti , so CASVA is already a center of European importance for the study of twentieth-century architecture, art and design.

Furthermore, just today the Council also approved the technical-economic feasibility project for the construction of the CASVA in the QT8 district, with an expected investment of 7.350.000 euros.

Part of the acquired fund will already be on display to the public in the exhibition "Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist" that Triennale Milano will dedicate to him on the occasion of the next Milan Artweek 2020, with the historical curation of Francesca Giacomelli and the artistic direction of Lorenza Baroncelli.

From 17 April, and until 6 September 2020, it will therefore be possible to admire projects, models, drawings and archive materials, some of which come from the archive donated to the Municipality of Milan, which document over 60 years of Mari's activity, together with the interventions of a series of internationally renowned artists and designers invited by the curator to pay homage to the work and figure of Enzo Mari.

Enzo Mari

Enzo Mari was one of the most innovative designers of the second half of the twentieth century and profoundly influenced the work of his contemporaries, in Italy and abroad. His theoretical research, even more than the products he studied, left an important mark on industrial design in the last century.

Born in Cerano (NO) on 27 May 1932; between 1952 and 1956 he completed his studies at the Brera Academy in Milan, where he graduated. 

Since the 1963s he has participated in the Milanese artistic avant-garde, first joining the Kinetic Art group, where he met Bruno Munari who would have a strong influence on some of his works, and then the Programmed Art group, whose slogan "our aim is to make you a partner", will influence the concept of self-production, one of the most innovative lines explored by the designer. In 1965 he became coordinator of the Nuova Tendenza Group and organized the group's exhibition at the 1963 Zagreb Biennial. From 1966 to 2000 he had his first experience as a teacher at the Humanitarian School of Milan, an experience that would continue until the 1971s in numerous other schools , including the Polytechnic of Milan and the University of Parma. In 2011 he participated with a critical intervention in the exhibition Italy: the New Domestic Landscape at the MOMA in New York, together with other design greats such as Vico Magistretti, Ettore Sottsass, De Pas - D'Urbino - Lomazzi. He was five times winner of the Compasso d'Oro, including the last for his career in XNUMX. Alongside his long production of objects (from vases to chairs, from bookcases to bowls, with Danese, Driade, Zanotta), Enzo Mari always adds a constant artistic activity with personal and collective exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

His works are exhibited in various contemporary art museums (Rome, Stockholm, Amsterdam, New York). She participates in many Biennials (Venice, Zagreb) and the Milan Triennale. One of his most famous books is '25 ways to hammer a nail' (2011), an important professional reflection against the backdrop of 900th century Italian design. He was President of the Association for Industrial Design from 1976 to 1979.

Enzo Mari dedicates his professional career to industrial design, collaborating with many industries in various sectors (product design, graphics, publishing and exhibition design), and playing a leading role in the panorama of Italian design, becoming not only the He is the creator of beautiful objects and new and captivating shapes, but also the careful interpreter of the functional aspect of the product.