Fighting the crisis in Turin
The big bad wolf may at last be leaving. One thing is for certain, it is no longer baying at the doors of carmakers and designers. Two years of recession in the automotive industry have [...]
Hyundai ix-Metro, space inspiration
A pine cone from outer space? This could be one way to describe the car, given that Hyundai's designers openly state that for their ix-Metro hybrid concept - a CUV, or City Utility Vehicle, for [...]
Autostyle 2009, thirty years of design and its protagonists
Thirty years of automotive design and thirty years of Auto&Design. There could have been no more appropriate theme for the sixth edition of Autostyle, held in Mantua on October 7 and 8, the annual competition [...]
Ferrari 458 Italia, equilibrio dinamico
Se si prende il profilo della 458 Italia presentata al salone di Francoforte e lo si sovrappone a quello della 430, di cui è l'erede diretta, si scopre con sorpresa che l'ultima nata di casa [...]
Citroën C3, rinnovamento nella continuità
Continuità e innovazione, due concetti che possono fare a pugni; in ogni caso, come ammette Mark Lloyd, si è trattato di «un esercizio molto difficile». Sostituire una vettura di successo come la C3 – oltre [...]
BMW 5 Series GT Concept, functional flexibility
It is a car conceived before the crisis, but developed with the post-crisis era already in mind. “We thought about what is changing in the car world”, explains Adrian van Hooydonk. “Motorists will be much [...]
Bertone Mantide, winged aerodynamics
Nuccio Bertone probably would have chosen his favourite colour, green - or, to be more precise, the acid green used for a number of his most important concepts - for this car, especially given that [...]
Ruspa Officine-Product and design, 70 years of feeling
To fully appreciate the creations of Ruspa Officine, one needs to view them from a perspective of design in its natural relationship with industry. Over seventy years of the company’s history (recently celebrated by the [...]
Ford Iosis Max, fluidity act III
The third chapter in the Iosis saga takes things a step further: in terms of how it evolves kinetic design – a genuine renaissance for Ford Europe’s image – and in its dynamic interpretation of [...]
Trends, programmed inspiration
For the layperson, the creative process involved in the designer’s job can be quite difficult to grasp. How can a car’s inception begin from the idea of a fish (such as the extraordinary Mazda Senku [...]