edited by Marta Zanuso
It is said that you can come out of crises stronger: you certainly do not come out the same as before. This is what happened to the students of the master's degree in Car Design by Italian Design Institutenow in its fifth edition.
Let us go in order and start from the beginning. The pathway in automotive design has always been held in the prestigious MAUTO of Turinan evocative place steeped in history that tells of theevolution of automotive designfrom carriages to the most famous supercars. In February, the class meets at the museum to begin the educational journey, under the guidance of the lecturers Marco Amadio (architect and transport designer) and Mauritius Corbi (senior design at Pininfarina).
Only a few days later, however, the nation went into lockdown due to the health emergency. The course was temporarily suspended and, after an initial readjustment, resumed via the now well-known and widespread DaD.
Once all the lessons have been completed, the project phase begins. The students, divided into groups, challenge each other on a common outline: propose a new Ferrari DINO 206 GT.
The car, born from the collaboration between Pininfarina and the designer Aldo Brovarone (who passed away in 2020), is just one of the many fortunate partnerships between Fiat and Scuderia Ferrari that have led to great innovations and avant-garde proposals - so much so that the GT berlinette that result is a model that is still very much in vogue today. The task of the master's students is to propose a new version of it, not by resorting to retro styling but by presenting the DINO 206 GT of today, or rather of the next few years.
The four groups work for three months with each other and with the support of the teachers, and on 7 November 2020 they present their various proposals at the TAKE OFF DAYfinal event usually hosted by the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modenaand this year remotely. Under the watchful eye of the jury composed of teachers and Andrea Mocellin (Senior Designer at Granstudio), the presentation of one of the groups particularly stands out.
We are talking about four young people from Apulia: Michelangelo Bove, Niccolò Bux, Giuseppe Regina, and Piero Simone.
"The name Apulia follows the tradition started by Ferrari in the 1950s, which linked many of its most iconic berlinettas and grand tourers to the names of cities, states and continents, drawing inspiration from their history or lifestyle," is the story written by the young people who won with the Ferrari Apulia project. "Our proposal is a tribute to Apulia, to the complexity and variety of its landscapes. We were inspired by the many roads lined with dry stone walls and olive trees, the cliffs overlooking the sea, trying to replicate that fascinating wild soul in our car.
The stylistic approach was based on clean, pure and elegant proportions and volumes, to make it seem almost sculpted by wind or fluid, eliminating superfluous appendages and frills and seeking modern and futuristic solutions. The work and study of forms pays homage to Ferrari's past, without nostalgia, keeping well in mind the philosophy of the brand that has brought timeless masterpieces to light over the years. The side profile of the Dino served as a reference for the study of the side. Every mid-engined Ferrari berlinetta, in fact, has an air intake positioned between the door and the rear wheel. We reinterpreted this important visual element by hollowing out the door, creating a groove that becomes more accentuated the closer it gets to the rear wheel, meeting the black fin that wraps around the wheel arch, maintaining a clean, sinuous line. The upper part of the side merges with the rear window through the rear pillars that support it almost as if to create a suspension effect, and descend to merge with the side fins, connected by the variable aerodynamic spoiler, enclosing the engine compartment.
The formal approach to the interior led to the definition of two cells dedicated to the driver and passenger. In the passenger compartment, defined by elements developed around the concept and perception of space, surfaces and functions are distributed organically. Overall, the cockpit has an almost symmetrical structure to the advantage of a more homogeneous distribution of spaces and functions, so that the passenger feels extremely involved in driving. The result is a modern and elegant ambience that is intended to welcome and immerse both driver and passenger in the driving experience. The seats follow the dipason language and exploit the opening movement to create empty/full islands that give character to the seat and backrest. These islands are enhanced by the remaining surfaces through the use of leather, which lends a sporty and exclusive touch. The steering wheel, made of carbon fibre and aluminium, is covered in leather at grip height, creating a cockpit that is both sporty and comfortable to the touch." If it is therefore true that the crisis forces change, this has been successful for both the master's degree from IDI both for its participants, despite the great difficulties encountered.
Credit must be given then to the tenacity of everyone, and in particular to the creativity of the Ferrari Apulia project, a virtuous example of building on the past to look to the future.
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