Bruno Munari’s Little Green Riding Hood: The italian tradition of playful design
Italian artist and designer Bruno Munari used play strategically in his work for both adults and children. This video essay looks at Munari's use of play and material in children's books, industrial design, concrete poetry, and his public workshops and is adapted from a talk for Italian Design Weeks for the Italian Chamber of Commerce, held at Emily Carr University.
The story begins in his childhood and looks at the revolutions in design, publishing, and education in northern Italy in 1960s and 70s. It features Bruno Munari, Enzo + Iela Mari, Alberto Manzi, Gianni Rodari, Mario Lodi, Fr. Lorenzo Milani, John Ruskin, William Morris, and Walter Crane and considers the impact of publishers Muggiani, Einaudi, Bompiani, Emme Edizion, and Corraini as well as Olivetti and the Salone del mobile.
web sites + publishers
mario lodi
casadelleartiedelgioco.it
fr. lorenzo milani + gianni rodari
vanessaroghi.com
enzo mari’s + bruno munari’s books
corraini.com
iela mari
babalibri.it
podcasts
Play to Learn
Bruno Munari: Revolutions of the Water Mill Pt. 1
Bruno Munari: Revolutions of the Water Mill Pt. 2
Interview with Pietro Corraini on the Book as a Total Object
Audio of Bruno Munari’s essay “Children’s Books”
books
Bruno Munari: Total Artist,
edited by Claudio Cerritelli
Bruno Munari: My Futurist Past
by Miroslava Hájak & Luca Zaffarano
Munari’s Books by Georgio Maffei
Bruno Munari by Aldo Tanchis
essays + video essays
Bruno Munari and the invention of
modern graphic design in Italy,
1928–1945 by Alessandro Colizzi
Steven Guarnaccia for CIMA
Discover one of Munari’s masterpieces