Notes on design - Enzo Mari by Jasper Morrison

In advance of an Enzo Mari exhibition at the Triennale Milano, we present a selection of archival drawings and sketches investigates the process of his search for true form and a vintage photographic summary of his key works.

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My first physical encounter with Enzo Mari’s design was his Box chair. As a young designer, there was something miraculous about a chair which could be sold in a plastic bag no bigger than its seat. I bought one and I still have it.

I greatly admire his conceptual approach to design, and though I am less conceptual in my approach, we share an appreciation of archetypes and arriving at a design by elimination of possibilities. So, I do not claim to be an expert on Enzo Mari, merely an appreciative onlooker who, as a designer, owes part of his education and inspiration to the example his work provides.

Selected by Jasper Morrison