We’re going to do an awesome workshop where everyone can take a piece of furniture home!

In 1974, Enzo Mari published a do-it-yourself guide to furniture making that taught a generation how to build their own functional, practical, and beautiful pieces using only rough boards and nails. Mari’s designs were easy enough for beginners to build but timeless in their sophistication. 40 years later, we want to bring that entrepreneurial spirit to a workshop on a warm summer afternoon in our space that will teach 20 participants the basics of furniture building with a critical, responsible, and sustainable eye. Together, everyone will build their own chair over the course of a few hours, and will be able to either take it home with them or donate it to the museum.

We see Mari’s approach to design as very similar to our own: it empowers us to think of making things as a way of communicating, and to question what we make in terms of how it is serving a greater good. Put simply, design makes life better because it acts as a unifying platform for discussion, opening up opportunities for us to come together and connect. We hold these workshops because we believe that a museum is a neutral ground where those different viewpoints and experiences can gather to consider a common problem.

We want people to be able to use their hands, in a collaborative space. We want people to learn from one another, and from us. And we want to make sure that great ideas aren’t forgotten.