Enzo Mari is one of the most thoughtful and intellectually provocative Italian designers of the late 20th century. Mari has designed many amazing products and objects one I want to concentrate on is the Sedia 1. Sedia 1 is a self-assembly chair designed in 1974 by Mari and put into production by Finnish brand Artek... The chair however was a different approach to design at the time of its production in 74, you could build it yourself with just a hammer using cheap, off-the-shelf lumber. It anticipated several key design principles that resonate right now: DIY; sustainability; small-scale, local production and consumption; simplicity; handmade; hacking commercial products; and the open-source/creative commons movements [the furniture could be built by anyone except a factory or a dealer.]This I guess was the start of flat pack furniture to be mass produced, however it was very stripped back. Mari gave to power to people to construct their own chair, which asthetically is really great, in its angular shapes and forms (dont know how comfortable one would be though?). Anyway, the chair is another way of getting people to become creative, or maybe just practical with tools and raw materials. I think its a really interesting way of making something. Mari is a massive dude.
