THE CENTURY CAR DESIGNER
What distinguishes beauty from ugliness? What is a form attractive? What makes it attractive?
Giugiaro contributed to bringing to the top the “Made in Italy” term, designing more than 200 successful model cars and receiving various awards as the “Century Car-Designer” and seven honorary degrees.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, designer of some beautiful shapes of the Automotive industry, know the concept of style and, over the past 40 years, gave his interpretation of that. During the long-running career, his pencil created such of unforgettable series cars as Alfa Giulia GT, Lancia Delta, Maserati Ghibli and Lotus Espirit. But he is also the maker of uniques lines of dream-cars like the Volkswagen W12, BMW Nazca C2 and Lamborghini Calà, just to mention few of the concept-car designed by Italdesing, his home design studio.
In 1967 Giugiaro started his independent design and engineering consultancy founding the Ital Style – today worldwide known as Italdesign. At the time, the design studio was based in Torino, then moved in 1974 to Moncalieri – where to the present it grew and established as leader industry. Giorgetto Giugiaro contributed to bringing to the top the “Made in Italy” term, designing more than 200 successful model cars and receiving various awards as the “Century Car-Designer” and seven honorary degrees. Let’s have a look inside the atelier and behind the scenes of car’s shapes creation.
At the entrance of the vast and bride hall where are collected some of the most illustrious concepts realized by Italdesign Giugiaro, stands out a black Volkswagen which, at first sight, could look like an ordinary Golf. Actually it is a five doors GTI (one of just two existing in the world) built by the Wolfsburg Factory specifically for who created this automotive myth, produced in more than 20 million examples. Since 1974 to the present, the VW Golf has been produced in eight generations, and it significantly contributed to give prestige to the German Manufacturer.
But how does this successful and sells record-breaking car has been conceived? The Master of the design tells us:” In 1969, VW contacted me to project a B segment car which should’ve had exceptional ability skills. I wondered why VW chose me between all the well-known coachbuilders based in Piedmont. At a later stage, I found out that at 1969 Turin Auto Show, Gumpert (at time official VW importer to Italy) noticed 4 of my creations as most fascinating cars at the Show. I never asked him what they were, but I guess they could be the Maserati Ghibli, de Tomaso Mangusta, Alfa GT and ISO Grifo. So I was stationed in charge of a widespread car that, during its development, wasn’t expected to become a “cultural phenomena”.
Showing few rough sketches, Giugiaro confides us that the prospective illustrations which go around these days and are often the first design student’s worries, are just an exercise style and they aren’t important as the technical drawings featuring exacted sizes. Giugiaro continues: ” With sketches is easy to fall into mistakes and get out of touch with reality, moving away from concrete ways in favour of the aesthetics and the final result. I always started my project with technical drawings, which takes care about the real volume that the bodywork will use – sketches are misleading, sometimes cannot be realized due to the actual room lack in abstract forms.”
Comparing the harsh and squared lines of the Golf with other cars designed by Giugiaro, it’s clear the contrast between the styling. Taking as an examples the Bizzarini 5300 GT Strada, designed during the period in which he worked for Bertone, he said: “Cars as the 5300 GT Strada, lightweight and compact, which seems to dress the driver, will remain just a dream due to the safety standards of today. When we designed the Lamborghini Gallardo, inspiring from our Calà project, we had to take into consideration comfort and safety prerequisites that would never fit into fascinating and small supercars of yesterday.”
In 2010 Volkswagen Group purchased the 90-per-cent of the Italdesign shares and, in 2015 Giugiaro sold the remaining 9,9% to the German Giant Industry, releasing his role inside the company. Also in 2015 was born GFG (acronym of Giorgetto Fabrizio Giugiaro), a company founded together with his son Fabrizio that has been active in car design over 30 years. Offering a wide range of services and consultancy, Giorgetto and his son continue their work in styling research for the motor industry.
ENGINEROUTE
THE CENTURY CAR DESIGNER
What distinguishes beauty from ugliness? What is a form attractive? What makes it attractive?
Giugiaro contributed to bringing to the top the “Made in Italy” term, designing more than 200 successful model cars and receiving various awards as the “Century Car-Designer” and seven honorary degrees.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, designer of some beautiful shapes of the Automotive industry, know the concept of style and, over the past 40 years, gave his interpretation of that. During the long-running career, his pencil created such of unforgettable series cars as Alfa Giulia GT, Lancia Delta, Maserati Ghibli and Lotus Espirit. But he is also the maker of uniques lines of dream-cars like the Volkswagen W12, BMW Nazca C2 and Lamborghini Calà, just to mention few of the concept-car designed by Italdesing, his home design studio.
In 1967 Giugiaro started his independent design and engineering consultancy founding the Ital Style – today worldwide known as Italdesign. At the time, the design studio was based in Torino, then moved in 1974 to Moncalieri – where to the present it grew and established as leader industry. Giorgetto Giugiaro contributed to bringing to the top the “Made in Italy” term, designing more than 200 successful model cars and receiving various awards as the “Century Car-Designer” and seven honorary degrees. Let’s have a look inside the atelier and behind the scenes of car’s shapes creation.
At the entrance of the vast and bride hall where are collected some of the most illustrious concepts realized by Italdesign Giugiaro, stands out a black Volkswagen which, at first sight, could look like an ordinary Golf. Actually it is a five doors GTI (one of just two existing in the world) built by the Wolfsburg Factory specifically for who created this automotive myth, produced in more than 20 million examples. Since 1974 to the present, the VW Golf has been produced in eight generations, and it significantly contributed to give prestige to the German Manufacturer.
But how does this successful and sells record-breaking car has been conceived? The Master of the design tells us:” In 1969, VW contacted me to project a B segment car which should’ve had exceptional ability skills. I wondered why VW chose me between all the well-known coachbuilders based in Piedmont. At a later stage, I found out that at 1969 Turin Auto Show, Gumpert (at time official VW importer to Italy) noticed 4 of my creations as most fascinating cars at the Show. I never asked him what they were, but I guess they could be the Maserati Ghibli, de Tomaso Mangusta, Alfa GT and ISO Grifo. So I was stationed in charge of a widespread car that, during its development, wasn’t expected to become a “cultural phenomena”.
Showing few rough sketches, Giugiaro confides us that the prospective illustrations which go around these days and are often the first design student’s worries, are just an exercise style and they aren’t important as the technical drawings featuring exacted sizes. Giugiaro continues: ” With sketches is easy to fall into mistakes and get out of touch with reality, moving away from concrete ways in favour of the aesthetics and the final result. I always started my project with technical drawings, which takes care about the real volume that the bodywork will use – sketches are misleading, sometimes cannot be realized due to the actual room lack in abstract forms.”
Comparing the harsh and squared lines of the Golf with other cars designed by Giugiaro, it’s clear the contrast between the styling. Taking as an examples the Bizzarini 5300 GT Strada, designed during the period in which he worked for Bertone, he said: “Cars as the 5300 GT Strada, lightweight and compact, which seems to dress the driver, will remain just a dream due to the safety standards of today. When we designed the Lamborghini Gallardo, inspiring from our Calà project, we had to take into consideration comfort and safety prerequisites that would never fit into fascinating and small supercars of yesterday.”
In 2010 Volkswagen Group purchased the 90-per-cent of the Italdesign shares and, in 2015 Giugiaro sold the remaining 9,9% to the German Giant Industry, releasing his role inside the company. Also in 2015 was born GFG (acronym of Giorgetto Fabrizio Giugiaro), a company founded together with his son Fabrizio that has been active in car design over 30 years. Offering a wide range of services and consultancy, Giorgetto and his son continue their work in styling research for the motor industry.
ENGINEROUTE
