These pieces are from his Autoprogettazione (or "self-design") series: Nineteen do-it-yourself pieces designed to be both materially inexpensive and easy to assemble. In the 1950s he noticed the tastes of the public tilting toward mass-produced furniture of lesser quality. The Autoprogettazione was intended to bring people back to quality and process in a way anyone could afford. More on this here.
Mari's practice explored avenues of theory, psychology, and perception. He saw himself as a theoretician as much as an artist and designer. And the boundaries between, he believed, were mostly meaningless.
Imagine Ikea without Mari's precedence: If they're not paying him residuals, it's a crime.
As for the "rebel" moniker, well, if the outsized footprint of his work required a character of equal magnitude, then the shoe fit Enzo Mari very well indeed.
For an interesting description of Mari the man, see here.
A Mari chair in kit form.
A fruit "bowl" in bamboo.
The EFFE table: For Mari the architectural details are not just designer's artifice. The structure simultaneously provides strength and embodies it, yet retains a certain delicacy.
An EFFE table mashup made with parts from Ikea. More on this story here.
An hommage to the Autoprogettazione in stainless steel by Buenos Aires-born artist Rirkit Tiravanija.
Mari's work isn't confined by material, medium, or mentality; Not even time and space, for that matter. E' una vita bellisima, maestro.
