Design as Art: Bruno Munari (Penguin Modern Classics)

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In his later life, Munari, worried by the incorrect perception of his artistic work, which is still confused with the other genres of his activity (didactics, design, graphics), selected art historian Miroslava Hajek as curator of a selection of his most important works in 1969. This collection, structured chronologically, shows his continuous creativity, thematic coherence and the evolution of his aesthetic philosophy throughout his artistic life.

If you enjoyed Design as Art, you might like John Berger's Ways of Seeing, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. A natural material ages well. Painted material loses its paint, cannot breathe, rots. It has become bogus”.

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As mentioned above, Munari has written many books aimed at both experts in the sector and children, and certainly Design as Art does not reach the level of masterpieces such as Fantasiaand Da Cosa Nasce Cosa, texts not yet available in English. Nevertheless, the book is a journey into Munari’s poetics, useful for young students approaching the world of architecture and design. Bruno Munari, ‘Works 1930–1996’, 2018, installation view, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York. Courtesy: Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Hájek, Miroslava, “Bruno Munari, Futurista." From 2012. Bruno Munari: my futurist past. Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Claude Lichtenstein, Alfredo Haberli – Air Made Visible: A Visual Reader on Bruno Munari, Lars Muller, 2000.

We know that only the technical means of artistic achievement can be taught, not art itself. The function of art has in the past been given a formal importance which has severed it from our daily life; but art is always present when a people lives sincerely and healthily.In the Darkness of the Night: A Bruno Munari Artist's Book. Princeton Architectural Press. 2017. First published in 1956. Bruno Books. Harvill Press: London; printed in Italy. 1953. Compilation of What I'd like to be; The Lorry driver; and Georgie has lost his cap. One of the ideas I enjoyed reading about that truly questions the relation between art and design was Munari’s reflections on ‘wearing’. He asks us to look at how an object is ‘worn’ and becomes ‘worn’ with use. He then asks if we should design on the sole merit of aesthetics or if we should limit ourselves to user-needs? Munari suggests that maybe we should design objects after observing how they have become worn with time.