Four car design schools to compete in Ferrari design contest

Thu, 03 Feb 2005

Ferrari, in collaboration with Pininfarina, has laid down a global challenge for students of car design. The project, called 'Ferrari: new concepts for the myth', will see students from four of the world's best automotive design schools compete to create new concepts for future Ferraris. The four schools are: Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Tokyo Communication Arts, Coventry University School of Art and Design, and the European Institute of Design in Turin. The schools will go head to head to stimulate their students' talent and creativity, and were each chosen for their diverse approach to design and to provide a global source of fresh ideas.

Staff from the four schools were invited to Maranello last week to introduce their schools to each other and to present themselves to senior staff at both Ferrari and Pininfarina. IED Turin students were invited on a tour of the factory and the superb Galleria Ferrari in Maranello. Frank Stephenson, Director of Ferrari-Maserati Concept Design and Development, also introduced the brief for the project, which focuses on the mainstream models V8 and V12 road cars rather than the 'limited edition' series such as the F50 or Enzo models.

The brief asks students from each college to bring fresh and innovative ideas in both style and function and to propose stimulating alternatives to the internationally acclaimed shapes of the mid-engined V8 series and the front-engined V12 models. The students will have total creative freedom, although their design proposals will have to retain the recognisable features and genetics of the Ferrari marque.

In July 2005 the five best models from each of the four schools will be put forward for evaluation. The 20 models, in 1:4 scale, will be judged by a technical panel including the Ferrari Styling Committee and the senior management of Pininfarina, including Lorenzo Ramaciotti and Ken Okuyama. Four winners will be picked, and special mentions will be made for the best designs. In addition, a selected number of Ferrari customers and readers of the world's car magazines will also evaluate the desirabilty of the new proposals. The four winners will be given the unique opportunity of work experience at either Ferrari or Pininfarina, transforming the academic project into professional experience. The award ceremony for the winners will be held at the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, which will also host a dedicated exhibition of the work later in the year