“An Eighteenth Century villa furnished with ultramodern furniture and equipped with state of the art technology.” This comparison, borrowed from the architect Maurizio Ficcadenti – founder and chairman of Inovo Design in Turin – captures the essence of the Lirica concept car exhibited on the stand of the emerging Turin-based studio at Geneva.
This five-metre-long coupé is the result of a double-edged challenge undertaken by Ficcadenti and his team: “Our first objective was to prove to ourselves that we are capable of developing a complete project in a very short timescale”. This cannot, of course, be compared with the time involved when working for a client, he points out. “We also wanted to prove that our working methods, based solely on virtual design, can be applied to any type of car, even the most traditional”.
The exterior design is defined by sweeping surfaces, with particular emphasis on the flared arches that stand out boldly in the overall side view of the car. The long front overhang and extremely dynamic, tapering tail profile are references to the styling cues of the great cars of the past. “This wasn’t an exercise in retro nostalgia, but rather a celebration, in a modern key, of the timeless traits of the Italian car”, says Ficcadenti.
The packaging is the result of reflections on how the way of driving and experiencing the car has changed: “We also studied the new approach to the concept of control ergonomics in today’s cars, with instruments that are becoming increasingly less physical and progressively more associated with screens, computers and single controls for several functions”.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 157
