The Book Unfolded

This is the second half of the story of designer Bruno Munari's work in publishing for designers, artists, and children. Show notes, image gallery, and a transcript are available at robinmitchellcranfield.com⁠.  This episode looks at Munari’s work between 1962 and 1972, looking at his contributions to the “gentle revolution” in Italian education and his legacy as an industrial designer, and design educator. Gianni Rodari, Roberto Rossellini, and William Morris feature in this story. Munari's Falklands lamp for Danese and his Abitacolo are highlighted. Books by Munari referenced are Design as Art, Good Design, Xeriographia, La Notte Buia, and Little Yellow Riding Hood. Publishers referenced are Einaudi, Corraini, and Emme Edizioni

The Italian graphic designer Bruno Munari made experimental books, including unreadable books, a book made out of tin, and another made into a bed. But he had clear and specific ideas about what makes book a book, even if, in his view, the format of a book is dynamic and subject to endless interrogation. In Munari's world, a book can be a sculpture, a toy, and an object. More, he thought that a magnolia could be an address, and children's room an art gallery. Yet, a lamp ought not to be disguised as a bunch of grapes. Find out what shaped the beautiful mind of Bruno Munari in part 1 of this audio essay. This essay is adapted from a talk I gave in the fall of 2023 for Italian Design Weeks at Emily Carr University, addressing Munari's Unreadable Books, his Useless Machines, his children's books, and his public art workshops. A video essay on this subject called "Little Green Riding Hood" is also available on my YouTube channel.⁠ Show notes, a transcript, and a gallery of images are available on my web site, robinmitchellcranfield.com.

Pietro Corraini explains the connection between books and space, why Corraini Edizioni treats books as total objects, and what the connection is between Bruno Munari and the 'gentle revolution' in Italian education of the 1960s and 70s. Corraini recently opened the Spazio Munari in Milan, a gallery and bookstore dedicated to Bruno Munari. Find out more at corraini.com and listen to their fantastic podcast, “Play to Learn.” Special thanks to Benedetta Lelli from the press office of Corraini, who joined us! See images for this episode here. A transcript of this episode is available here.

This episode is an annotated reading of Bruno Munari's essay "Children's Books" from his book Design as Art (Penguin) originally published as Arte come mestiere (Laterza) in 1966. The essay starts at 2:16. Images for this episode at robinmitchellcranfield.com/bruno-munari This is the first of a short series of episodes about innovative Italian children's publishing with a focus on Bruno Munari, Enzo Mari, and Iela Mari.

I speak with Ben Brown (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koroki, Ngāti Paoa), the inaugural ⁠Te Awhi-Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador⁠, from Aotearoa New Zealand about emerging and traditional literacies, libraries, and how books and storytelling connect us with one another. We also talk about the role of writing in youth justice, and how bookmaking helps young people to understand and express their own stories. An updated edition of Ben’s memoir, ⁠A Fish in the Swim of the World⁠, was published by Penguin in 2022 and he’s also written many books for children, including the acclaimed A Booming in the Night and ⁠he's also served as the editor for an anthology of Young People's poetry from a workshop he ran at an Oranga Tamariki Youth Justice Residence⁠, which we talk about later in our conversation.  Radio New Zealand has two recorded talks delivered by Ben: the ⁠Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture⁠, where he addressed the power of imagination and its deep roots in te ao Māori, and a ⁠Pānui on youth justice and the power of words⁠. This⁠ diagram shows what Ben is describing when he talks about the harakeke plant. The web page for this episode has more information and images ⁠A transcript of this episode is available⁠ I would love to hear from you! Find me at my web site robinmitchellcranfield.com

Visiting poet Lisa Robertson's archive revealed to me what historian Arlette Farge called "The Allure of the Archives." I encountered something nostalgic, Farge found something beautiful. We both encountered surprises. This episode also looks at literary critic Terry Castle's addiction to home décor magazines, like Nest magazine, and her mixed feelings about their allure. More at robinmitchellcranfield.com

"If my first glance of the morning was for the sun, my first thought was for the butterflies it would engender." — Vladimir Nabokov Can we use the book format to capture our thoughts? Vladimir Nabokov's memoirs and interviews and Marcel Proust's Cahiers versus The School of Life's pop self-help book "How to think More Effectively" which references both. What does it mean to "think effectively" and why do we view the world through rectangles? Show notes: The Libro Illegibile  (Unreadable Book) by Bruno Munari and those Ellezi Klipi staplers. The image for this episode is not the Starry Night Cracker, I mentioned, but a sketch I made of a black swallowtail. Also included: Marcel Proust, Kenya Hara, and Virginia Woolf.

Books about print culture and design are often unavailable as audio books, so I am reading excerpts from some of my favourite books and essays on this podcast without editorial notes for a series I'm calling 'Print Reading Club'. This podcast is not affiliated with the author or the publisher of this work. This is 'Amateurs Rush In' from Lisa Gitelman's book Paper Knowledge from 2014. What happened when children, artists, and other amateurs got access to D.I.Y. print and radio technology? This essay is about, among other things, novelty printing, 'zines, HP Lovecraft, and the dawn of the Couch Potato. Lisa Gitelman is a media historian whose research concerns American print culture, techniques of inscription, and the new media of yesterday and today.   This is read by Robin Mitchell Cranfield, a book designer, illustrator, and typography instructor. Image: Detail of a type specimen from 'A Descriptive and Illustrated Pamphlet of the Novelty Job Printing Presses' by Benjamin O. Woods and Company, 1875. Via archive.org. This image does not appear in the book.

How the book changed the way we live and relate to each other, inspired by Kenya Hara and his essay, "Books as Information Sculpture". Also: Alice and Wonderland, Michel de Montaigne, audiobooks, and Ray and Charles Eames' film, Powers of Ten. The text version is on my web site. A version of this essay appeared in Amphora Magazine. I don’t think it’s cool to spend the present anticipating the future. — Kenya Hara