The raft is an imaginative, indispensable object that has been represented in various forms in human art, history, culture and thought – the ability to adapt, the attachment to life or the desire to go elsewhere. In his book Rafts: Allegories of Design, Francesco Faccin makes the raft an allegory of the ability to design. He collects ten emblematic and inspirational stories that remind us of the importance of intuition and the ability to break the rules when necessary.

Thor Heyerdahl's journey across the Pacific Ocean in 1947, the balsas built by Cubans to escape Fidel Castro's regime, the boats of fishermen in Cameroon composed entirely of plastic bottles, the hot air balloon with which a bricklayer and a mechanic in 1979 crossed the East German border. Ten different stories to remind us that designing is a primal human need and therefore an act that must be cultivated as an antidote to alienation: "Designing not to be projected" as Enzo Mari teaches.

Corraini Edizioni, 200pp, 13cm x 20cm, illustrated paperback, 2024