Celebrating Piedmontese manufacturing and Chinese automotive industry at the same time. This is how the international award “Piemonte Meets China – Torino Automotive Design Award” was born, a recognition that highlights the value of automotive design as a tool for intercultural dialogue. Promoted by the China Design Center (CDC Milano), the award will be presented on September 26 during the Turin Auto Show.
The trophies are made by Italdesign and designed by Massimo Borrelli, Senior Industrial Designer. “The award logo and trophy,” explains the designer, “are the result of a reflection on three key elements: the Piedmont region, China, and the language of automotive design. The logo is conceived as a closed shape, inscribed in a precise geometry, with taut curves and rays that strongly evoke the automotive world, also referring to the aesthetics of the test track, evoking movement, precision, and innovation. However, this circumscribed shape is crossed by two continuous lines that represent the synergy between two worlds: Piedmont’s automotive manufacturing capabilities and China’s growing centrality on the global stage, with its technologically advanced and increasingly well-designed products.”
Although suggesting the initials “P” for Piedmont and ‘C’ for China, the logo does not have a single interpretation or a fixed directionality. “It can be rotated, read as an embrace, a gesture of openness and circularity; it is a sign that unites, encompasses, and conveys a shared vision,” continues Borrelli. The materials chosen tell a story of contrasting harmonies: carbon fiber, a symbol of technology and performance, is combined with cinnabar lacquer, which evokes Chinese craftsmanship and gives the trophy an aura of preciousness and solemnity. This combination expresses the meeting between innovation and tradition, between craftsmanship and avant-garde.
