Table of contents for No. 202 in AUTO & DESIGN

The radical changes in the automotive industry have also caused significant upheavals in the world of the coachbuilder. But Turin – a city that has always been recognised as an international hub of style – is coming up with solutions that could secure the future of this sector. The case of I.DE.A. Institute is a particularly good example: after a succession of ups and downs, the company founded in 1978 by Franco Mantegazza (who passed away just over a year ago) and Renzo Piano is about to embark on an ambitious new initiative for growth alongside Model Master as part of the MPS Automotive group. This is a young, motivated and highly professional group with a clear plan for the forthcoming years. The name of the group consists of the…

Projecting yourself both mentally and creatively into a culture completely different from your own to give life to a new project can be a very daunting task. But the projects produced by the students of the three year post-diploma course in Transportation Design - Car Design at the IED institute in Turin are proof that any challenge can be overcome through passion and perseverance. As course coordinator Fulvio Fantolino explains, the brief for the thesis project developed by the students in collaboration with the Indian brand Mahindra was to develop an Urban SUV - a multifunctional vehicle with compact forms and an innovative interior, which strikes the perfect balance between performance and utility. The project was conducted in two stages. The first was an analysis of customs and habits in…

"Sensual purity, which is the centre of our design philosophy, describes our style, our way of thinking. It is also an expression of modern luxury, into which we have transformed the traditional Mercedes style." Gorden Wagener, Vice President Design Daimler AG and therefore responsible for the design of the entire Daimler portfolio, does not hesitate to define the new S-Class as "the best car in the world", with all deference to luxury icons such as Bentley and Rolls: a fusion of emotion and intelligence that, in formal language, translates into a sensual purity in which high-tech becomes design and generates a form that is "not only rational but free, fascinating and sexy." What was important in this case was to "tackle the theory even before picking up a pencil: above…

While the new formal language was the starting point, the key to the ambition to make the S-Class an expression of absolute luxury had to be the interiors. A refined 'salon' on four wheels for which Hartmut Sinkwitz believes he has created the "epitome of beauty", and not only as regards this car’s segment. Sinkwitz is the head of interior design at Mercedes. Right from the start – in 2008 – he has worked alongside Hans-Peter Wunderlich, the designer considered to be the father of these extremely innovative interiors compared to previous Sindelfingen styling. Wunderlich recalls having achieved the aim of "pure luxury" he was seeking for the Mercedes flagship the day one of his designers, young Slovakian, Peter Balko, showed him a sketch that radically changed Mercedes' traditional architecture…

Right from the very first year the new S-Class offers two hybrid engines (one petrol and one diesel) alongside the two conventional power units (again one petrol and one diesel). All models are already Euro-6 and highly efficient, with fuel consumption reduced by up to 20 percent compared to the previous models. "These are results that up to a few years ago would have been considered a pipedream even for an intermediate segment car", says Thomas Weber, member of the Daimler Board of Management responsible for Group Research and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. And a plug-in hybrid has already been pre-announced that will lower consumption by at least 4 litres/100 km. Exceptional for a flagship model. The top performance engine is a 4663 cc V8 with a power output…

Differences between brothers often exceed their similarities and when a family grows each new member tends to define its own identity. This is exactly what happened on 4 July last to celebrate the Fiat 500’s sixth birthday, when the Turin based company presented the family’s two new siblings – 500L Trekking and 500L Living. The former is a small MPV aimed at the crossover segment, though it still retains a front-wheel drive, whereas the second is 20 cm longer than the 500L and the only compact model in the Fiat range offering more than 5 seats, thanks to an intelligent relationship between exterior dimensions and interior space. "500L Trekking is a real family car, sized to provide even better life on board", explains Roberto Giolito (Vice President of the Fiat…

To evolve but remain true to one’s identity, improving every element constituting the history of the brand, is not always easy – especially if, in the meanwhile, radical strategic and economic changes come into play. And yet, Volvo has managed to pull it off without a hitch. Three years after its split from Ford, in its new life within the orbit of the Chinese Geely, the Swedish brand has at least two significant achievements to boast about: a substantial growth in sales (2.6% globally this year) and the fact that, as promised at the beginning of this new adventure, it has still retained the styling and design independence deemed crucial for its future. Italy also has a part in the future strategy of the brand, and in the year of…

Training designers is a complex business, while the planning and working situation in the creative field is in continuous flux. The sector has suffered heavily from ongoing global difficulties and in cases where considerable investment would be required for future developments there are no resources. Given this scenario, in which professional challenges have become even tougher and the difference between talent and skill is subtle and not always pertinent, the human factor is fundamental. So it is more important to train the individual first before the designer. Someone may be born with specific abilities but what really matters is how these are exploited and, above all, how people adapt to a job that depends increasingly on teamwork and less on individual effort. These are aspects that ought to be already…

For its inaugural project, BMW Creative Lab – a joint initiative between Design works USA (the BMW industrial design consultancy, with studios all over the world) and the renowned, century-old Italian kitchenware manufacturer Fratelli Guzzini – addresses a specific socioeconomic issue. The partners in this first workshop (which will be followed by others with different companies and looking at different topics) chose to put six aspiring designers – graduates and students from the IED European Institute of Design and Milan Polytechnic – to work, to explore the relationship between food and movement from a design standpoint. According to the brief, a scenario now exists in which (as corroborated by facts) fewer and fewer people eat in restaurants and public places, while increasing numbers of people now choose to eat and…

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Although it is true that the S-Class was launched in 1972 by Friedrich Geiger – then head of design at Sindelfingen – with the W116 model, it was a car that could boast ancestors such as past icons like the pre-war 540K or the 300 SL 'gull-wing'. However, the concept of a large luxury car has always been part of the German company’s DNA and so it came as no surprise when current head of design, Gorden Wagener, didn't start from 1972 when tackling the latest model. He decided to start from the post-war period and Typ 300 dating from 1951 (it remained on the market up to 1962). But then it is sufficient to mention the colossal 600 (from 1963 to 1981) or 250 S and 300 SEL 6.3…

"A real passion for detail", says Martin Bremer, and his tone almost makes it sound like a mission. But then colour&trim is his world and a decisive factor that gives the new S-Class that unique touch of luxury, one of the key features of Sindelfingen’s flagship. " In terms of materials and colours", he adds, "this was an immense challenge". Because, of course, his mission was not only to design the interiors but also to choose the bodywork colours. He has opted for alubeam paints – also known as 'liquid metal' – which in technical terms involves a different way of processing aluminium pigment that creates truly mellow colours and a wealth of nuances. "My sector’s task was to support and emphasise the car’s lines", he says. "The facia, for…

Very shortly Skorpion – founded in 2004 and the brainchild of Italo Moriggi – will celebrate its first decade of activity. Right from the start Moriggi realised that rapid prototyping technology would in future years play a major role in the design field. June saw an event to mark the inauguration of an extension to the company’s San Felice production centre in Milan. And in November the first edition of a master’s degree – Materiae – will be launched to offer professionals and budding designers creative and technical training in this field. The event was an open day for customers and visitors to tour the centre but also an occasion to present Coupe Torino, a no-profit project created by Studiotorino and promoted by Alfredo and Maria Paola Stola. "This is…

At first glance it seems like a little submarine – it even has a periscope! – but inside its very compact and not too aesthetically structured shape there is a world of comfort and technology at the service of the user. This is the futuristic Link n’go, the electric concept car developed by designers at Akka Technologies, the European group specialised in engineering and technological consultancy, and partner of large manufacturing groups and the service sector (automotive, aeronautical, defence, naval, space and IT systems) in the various stages of design right up to industrialisation. This is the first 'bi-mode' electric vehicle, with both a conventional manual driving mode or automatic mode that exploits highly advanced technological systems, among which lasers, telecameras and sensitive and extremely reactive control devices. The car…

This July 4, Strate Collège organised a major event to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. Almost a thousand guests were invited to the school situated on the hills of Sèvres to the west of Paris. Past students, teachers, industrial partners and other associates came together to pay homage to the founders of this institute and, above all, to Jean-René Talopp who has stepped down gradually from the position of director over the past few years to now officially hand over the reins to Dominique Sciamma. Founded in June 1993, the Strate Collège was initially situated in Saint Quentin en Yvelines, and moved to Issy-les-Moulineaux in 1995. It remained there until January 2010, when it relocated again to a striking new building conceived by the architect Emile Lecaron and finalised by Bruno…

The Peugeot Design Lab in Paris (one of three – the others being in Shanghai and Sao Paolo) has just celebrated its first year of life. This is the carmaker’s in-house strategic design consultancy which, however, is specialised in all non-automotive areas. In this special place, where many different creative energies converge, boldly visionary concepts and products – such as the piano designed in conjunction with Pleyel and presented last year – take shape. This is a return to the product design roots of Peugeot which, in the early 19th century – long before it started making automobiles – was a foundry turning out work tools and domestic implements such as coffee grinders. “What sets this centre apart from others like it – explains its director, the designer Cathal Loughnane…

Two large screens are the focal point of an electronic revolution and one of the key factors in efforts to make the S-Class the new benchmark in the luxury car segment. Two 12.3" screens in 8:3 format with a resolution of 1440x540 pixels that fully replace previous on-board instruments. Side by side they dominate the facia as if one single unit. Enclosed within an aluminum frame they seem to be floating above their housing – with a design more like consumer rather than car-type electronics – forming the centre, indeed the heart of information on board. The left-hand one in front of the driver covers functions previously performed by conventional instruments whereas the right-hand, centrally positioned screen is the reign of infotainment and comfort functions, which include a really unique…

"Class, not mass". This might seem like a trite marketing slogan, however, for the time being Steffen Köhl only uses it to explain the true nature of Mercedes-Benz Style. This brand operates independently from the car sector, however, it provides support to car designers, even though this only concerns one or two projects a year. Köhl is head of Global Advanced Design and reporting to him are Margarete Wies, who is in charge of the Advanced Design Centre in Carlsbad and manager of Style, and Stefano Tam, Style’s project manager. Then there is a committee comprising other Mercedes department heads, naturally, led by Gorden Wagener who manages cooperation between the various sectors so that Style’s projects have that 'authentic Mercedes-Benz design'. If we speak of Mercedes-Benz Style in relation to…