What made Italian Design so special?
I believe it’s fair to say that Italy has “owned” design, and car design in particular, more than any other country. Although few would contest the nation’s mastery of the discipline, the reasons behind it, the stuff that made Italian automobile design so special, seem to have rarely been discussed. Until now, at least…
Although harmoniously handsome cars like a classic Lamborghini Miura or a contemporary Ferrari Roma may epitomize Italian car design in the eyes of many, great Italian designs have come in all shapes and sizes, from the voluptuous curves of the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante to the boxy functionalism of Giugiaro’s original Panda.
This means the argument can’t simply be reduced to a matter of volumes and proportions. Carrying an Italian passport or growing up in the country doesn’t seem to matter either, as the many Italian design icons styled by foreigners clearly demonstrate: the Fiat 124 Spider and De Tomaso Pantera, famously designed by the American Tom Tjaarda, immediately spring to mind.
Employees in Ferrari’s design studio in Maranello or Alfa Romeo’s Centro Stile in Turin hail from several countries…
