The Italian word autoprogettazione finds no easy equivalent in English. Though its constituent parts are literally translated as ‘self-design’, Enzo Mari used the term to describe his philosophically instructive furniture-building exercises. Using the barest of methods and materials – wooden boards, a hammer, nails – these invite participants to reconsider means of production and their relationship to (more often mass-produced) objects. The result of each exercise is both a piece of functional furniture, designed with archetypal simplicity, and an expanded understanding of labour engendered by its making.