Mario Marenco

Mario Marenco (1933-2017), architect and designer, was born and raised in Naples and obtained his degree in architecture there in 1957. In 1960 he opened his own studio in Rome, starting a long and prolific career that would lead him to work with brands such as Artemide, Poltrona Frau or Bernini. His most important collaboration was the one with Arflex, for which he signed two bestsellers such as the "Marechiaro" and "Marenco" sofas. In the 1980s he also designed various exhibition stands for the FIAT group and for brands controlled by it such as Lancia and Alfa Romeo. Alongside his activity as a designer, he carried on a parallel artistic career throughout his life in a totally different field, that of comic entertainment. He came to work steadily on radio and television as a comedian alongside Renzo Arbore, succeeding with the contagious sympathy of the characters he interpreted to enter the hearts of the public permanently and achieve great popularity. More unique than rare case, he managed to keep television popularity and his career as an architect separate, without either of the two so different aspects of his peculiar figure engulfing the other.