IL QUADRATO
Bruno Munari
Milano: All'Insegna del Pesce d'Oro, Settembre 1960. First edition [3,000 copies]. Text in Italian with 20-page English booklet laid in. Square quarto. Thick printed wrappers. 86 pp. Illustrated throughout with 152 black and white illustrations. 20-page English booklet laid in. Elaborate graphic design by the author. White wrappers lightly rubbed with minor edgewear. Former owners ink signature to front free endpaper. English language booklet with large “Return to R. H. Grooms” inked to cover [see scan]. Clean tight textblock, so a very good copy.
6 by 6-inch softcover book with 86 pages devoted to an aesthetic appreciation and history of the square. Printed in Italy and co-published with Wittenborn & Company, New York; Eric Diefenbronner, Stockholm; and Die Quadrat-Bücher im Tschudi-Verlag, St. Gallen.
“The square is high and as wide as a man with his arms outstretched. in the oldest writings and in the rock inscriptions of early man, it signifies the idea of enclosure, of home, of settlement. enigmatic in its simplicity, in the monotonous repetition of four equal sides and four equal angles, it creates a series of interesting figures..."
So begins Bruno Munari's introduction to 'the square', a book about the simplest of shapes, with implications that are anything but simple. Organized alphabetically - and covering a large portion of recorded history - 'the square' covers all areas of art and design from architecture (Munari's primary area of work), to language, to the chess board. Munari manages to not only show us the various incarnations and uses of the square, but he shows us why it's important. he also manages to make it important to us.
Munari's first book dedicated to basic forms ("The Circle" and "The Discovery of the Triangle" will be released in 1964 and 1976 respectively).
"Bruno Munari was among the most inspirational designers of all time, described by Picasso as 'the new Leonardo'. Munari insisted that design be beautiful, functional and accessible." -- Publisher's description of "Bruno Munari: DESIGN AS ART" [Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1966]
Bruno Munari (Milan, 1907 – 1998) was mentored by the Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti starting at the age of 18. Munari first showcased his "Useless Machines" in 1932 -- a series of Dadaist ever-moving geometrical solids suspended in the air. In 1948, Munari, along with Atanasio Soldati, Gianno Monet and Gillo Dorfles formed the MAC Movement [Movimento Arte Concreta] "to develop abstract painting and sculpture with no links whatsoever to the outside world." During this time, Munari continued creating his Convex-Concave sculptures and experimented with color, space, movement, form and background in his Negative-Positive works. The Italian Design Industry's interest in Munari led him to create the Pigomma Company's toy monkey, the Danese melamine cube ashtray and numerous other industrial design and illustrative works. After a career of over seventy years, Munari gained the title of "founding father of Italian design." Picasso described him as "the new Leonardo."
Munari, a self-taught man, became more than a graphic designer. He was an industrial designer, architect, writer, philosopher and educator. In the 20’s he became involved in the Futurist movement. He worked as a photographer and graphic designer for Pirelli, Cinzano, IBM and Olivetti. After WW2, he started to work as an industrial and interior designer. He challenged all conventions and stereo types, he pulled down barriers between architecture and design with his modest creativity and ingeniousness. Munari created experimental travel sculptures that could collapse and put into a suitcase, simple exquisite lamps, animated children’s books, unreadable books (Libri illegibili), useless machines and so many other beautiful artefacts. He wrote many books, and thanks to Edizione Corraini, many of those have been reprinted. He was awarded the Compasso ‘Oro, Milano in 1954, 1955 and 1979. His advice: “Take life as seriously as a game.