Just under six months ago, Lamborghini acquired its own in-house style centre, staffed by a small team that will be designing and developing the brand’s future dream cars. The man in charge is Belgian designer Luc Donckerwolke; who came to Sant’Agata Bolognese six years ago after Lamborghini was taken over by the Audi Group. Silvia Baruffaldi toured the new building with him and heard what he had to say about its facilities and how it works now and for the foreseeable future.
For the moment the design team comprises just five people, including a secretary and Donckerwolke himself, who explains: “I’d rather have a truly united team that will expand slowly and in an integrated fashion. That makes team work essential, each individual contributing his own know-how and experience in a way propitious to harmonious expansion”. There’s plenty of design work on the go in the new centre; they’re even working up ideas for cars that do not exist as yet in the Lamborghini range. “We’re working on six projects at present, all of them at different stages from concept to nearly finished cars”, continues Donckerwolke”.
It’s no surprise that Donckerwolke spends almost all his time around the big central table with his designers, rather than in his office next door, a glass triangle that looks out onto the model presentation hall.
White, black and aluminium grey dominate the colour scheme of the centre, which is flooded with overhead light, since its Director wanted no ceiling, so that the roof beams are all exposed. “Why hide the engineering when it can look so good? For me the essence of Lamborghini is precisely that interaction between engineering and aesthetics and styling that is no mere trickery, but honest and functional”.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 150
