Bruno Munari: Achille and Bruno, free to play

Every year, the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni presents a new exhibition: a valuable opportunity to explore the archive in search of themes and new projects, but also to update the stories of the guided tours each time.

It is a challenge we embrace with enthusiasm, driven by the desire to explore previously unseen perspectives.

After delving not only into the archive at Piazza Castello 27 in Milan, but also into the Castiglioni family home to further illuminate the dimension of playfulness and lightness that many associate with Achille, we now find ourselves opening yet another window onto the personal and professional relationship between Achille Castiglioni and Bruno Munari.

Anyone who knew Achille knows well that the first thing that struck people was his smiling and ironic way of approaching everyday life and design itself. He loved to play, often involving others as well, turning every encounter into a moment of lightness and complicity. He was fortunate to live in an extraordinary period in which the designers of his generation knew one another, spent time together, and nurtured mutual respect and admiration. Today, within the Foundation, his archive continues to surprise us: for this reason, we remain constantly committed to researching themes and works that are often still unpublished.

The most asked questions we receive during the guided tours are “How much did Achille play in his private life and professional career?” And what were his favourite toys? Did Achille ever design a toy?” We can answer the last question immediately: no! But he collected and preserved countless toys both in his studio and at home, for personal amusement and as design inspiration but also to play with his children and friends. To Bruno Munari, however, toys represented a tangible educational tool: a way to help children grow and develop as free, creative, and independent individuals. Bruno made children feel grown-ups and adults feel children.

Through this exhibition, Achille and Bruno. Free to Play, Marco Marzini, along with the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni, reinterprets the design connections between Achille Castiglioni and Bruno Munari. The design methods of Achille Castiglioni and those of Bruno Munari represent two distinct paths, but profoundly complementary within the Italian design realm of the 20th-century. They both share an artistic vision that revolves around simplicity, functionality and observation of the user experience creating a cultural and methodological synergy.

Castiglioni is known for his pragmatic and ironic approach to design. His works are often born from attentive observations of everyday objects and the reimagination of existing elements, Munari wrote ‘da cosa nasce cosa’ (‘what is born from what’) which Castiglioni would apply to the letter. Both of their industrial designs are essential but simultaneously surprising: through smart and simple solutions, they can solve real problems, while still maintaining a strong element of fun and innovation.

Munari, separately from his industrial projects, weaves together art, graphic design, pedagogy and experimentation. His work is guided by a deep reflection on creative processes and visual communication. Munari places great emphasis on the design method, developing tools and approaches that make design accessible, clear and understandable.

Achille and Bruno’s projects always invite viewers to observe the world through a more attentive, creative, and deeply human lens.

Now, the floor to Marco Marzini:

This explorative exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the creative processes of Achille Castiglioni and Bruno Munari, two friends in a dialogue between play and curious design intuitions.

ACHILLE AND BRUNO . FREE TO PLAY is the natural continuation and development of the previous exhibition GIOCO E PROGETTO, PROGETTO è GIOCO, from which I drew inspiration to further argue that design is a metaphor for playing; it is a practice that pushes the mind to solve problems, a practice that can be exercised on any form of enigma. What is more enigmatic than a design project? It is a continuous game of constructing rules and devising solutions to fulfil them, boundaries that define the intricate path encompassing ethical choices, meaningful, market demands and formal choices. These are creative experiments where material, image, and form intersect with function and fiction, generating fantastic and ironic interpretations of reality.

Through a selection of objects and archival images, the exhibition invites visitors to see Achille and Bruno as two young friends fascinated by the many forms of reality: free to play, constantly exploring and investigating, immersed in a world where design becomes play and play becomes design.

Both Achille and Bruno’s work reflects a creative practice shaped by attentive distraction and serious play, Techne and Asobi: craftsmanship and play as an attitude to experimentation. These elements express the essence of the design process shared by Achille and Bruno.