Alessandro Mendini's Writings Reissued in 'La poltrona di Proust'

Nottetempo has reissued 'La poltrona di Proust', a collection of writings by Alessandro Mendini (Milan, 1931–2019), thirty years after its first edition. The volume, part of the saggi | architettura series, is curated by Marisa Galbiati, who provides an introduction titled 'Il Mendini pensiero'. The book opens with a 1972 drawing, 'Don’t try to solve', and is organized alphabetically, blending aphorisms, drawings, and reflections on design, architecture, and visual arts. Mendini articulates his philosophy of redesign, exemplified by the iconic Proust armchair, which he describes as a ready-made based on an 18th-century form covered with a pointillist pattern inspired by Signac. He declares, 'Everything that could be said with design has been said; all that remains is to redesign objects already designed and made by others.' The volume includes entries on his editorships of Casabella, Modo, and Domus, and his admiration for Fortunato Depero and Vasilij Kandinskij. The reissue is praised for its editorial quality, preserving Mendini's anarchic, exploratory approach to design as a continuous process of producing images.