Catherine R. Hofmann

If someone actually tried to build something, they would probably learn – Enzo Mari

Enzo Mari’s 1974 book was written to help regular people better understand the objects around them. Since there’s no better way to learn than by doing, the book was a free DIY instructional on how to build 19 different pieces of furniture from rough cut lumber and nails. 

“The quality-quantity ratio is central to the whole of industrial production: quality is determined when the shape of a product does not ‘seem’ but simply ‘is’. This statement, anything but a paradox, is not understood by most people. And this makes it difficult to execute projects of real worth . . . In 1974, I thought that if people were encouraged to build a table with their own hands, for example, they would be able to understand the thinking behind it.”

Buy Autoprogettazionenzo here.