Il libro è costituito da un progetto realizzato da Mari nel '74 e rappresenta uno stimolo (e una provocazione) per legare la creatività alla capacità costruttiva di ognuno, seguendo e/o modificando la traccia data dai disegni progettuali di Enzo Mari per la realizzazione di una sedia, un tavolo, un armadio, un letto. Il libro riprende la precedente pubblicazione "Proposta per un'autoprogettazione" curata dal centro Duchamp e stampata in occasione della mostra alla Galleria Milano, alla quale si aggiungono i testi dello stesso Mari a commento di quest'operazione, la documentazione di ciò che la prima uscita del progetto ha provocato (lettere, commenti, articoli), immagini, disegni e una riflessione sull'attualità della riproposta di oggi.

Inspired by radical Italian designer Enzo Mari, this practical book with step-by-step DIY projects for hand built, beautiful furniture is a tribute to his simple ideas that challenged the consumerism of the furniture industry.

The Culture of Nature in the History of Design confronts the dilemma caused by design’s pertinent yet precarious position in environmental discourse through interdisciplinary conversations about the design of nature and the nature of design. Demonstrating that the deep entanglements of design and nature have a deeper and broader history than contemporary discourse on sustainable design and ecological design might imply, this book presents case studies ranging from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century and from Singapore to Mexico. It gathers scholarship on a broad range of fields/practices, from urban planning, landscape architecture, and architecture, to engineering design, industrial design, furniture design and graphic design. From adobe architecture to the atomic bomb, from the bonsai tree to Biosphere 2, from pesticides to photovoltaics, from rust to recycling – the culture of nature permeates the history of design. As an activity and a profession always operating in the borderlands between human and non-human environments, design has always been part of the environmental problem, whilst also being an indispensable part of the solution. The book ventures into domains as diverse as design theory, research, pedagogy, politics, activism, organizations, exhibitions, and fiction and trade literature to explore how design is constantly making and unmaking the environment and, conversely, how the environment is both making and unmaking design. This book will be of great interest to a range of scholarly fields, from design education and design history to environmental policy and environmental history.

"Once a guarded cinematic secret, this definitive history reveals for the first time the art and craft of Hollywood's hand painted-backdrops, and pays homage to the scenic artists who brought them to the big screen." -- Slipcase.

Fashion Design for Living explores the positive contribution that the contemporary fashion designer can make within society. The book seeks to reveal new ways of designing and making fashion garments and products that not only enhance and enrich our lives, but also are mindful of social and sustainable issues. This book sets out to question and challenge the dominant, conventional process of fashion design that as a practice has been under-researched. While the fashion designer in industry is primarily concerned with the creation of the new seasonal collection, designed, produced and measured by economically driven factors, society increasingly expects the designer to make a positive contribution to our social, environmental and cultural life. Consequently an emergent set of designers and research-based practitioners are beginning to explore new ways to think about fashion designing. The contributors within this book argue that fashion designing should move beyond developing garments that are just aesthetically pleasing or inexpensive, but also begin to consider and respond to the wearer's experiences, wellbeing, problems, desires and situations, and their engagement with and use of a garment. Fashion Design for Living champions new approaches to fashion practice by uncovering a rich and diverse set of views and reflective experiences which explore the changing role of the fashion designer and inspire fresh, innovative and creative responses to fashion and the world we live in.

This quirky handbook of Italian gestures, first published in 1958 by renowned Milanese artist and graphic designer Bruno Munari, will help the phalange-phobic decipher the unspoken language of gestures--a language not found in any dictionary. Photos.