I had the pleasure of speaking at an event in Rovereto, Italy over the weekend. The conference “AUTOarchitettura” was one in a series of events that is being organised at the MART museum to complement their current exhibition, “Mito Macchina” (‘Mythical machine’) - on the subject of car design - and well worth visiting.
Running until the 1st of May 2007, the showcase of 50 of the most important cars in history is a total must for anyone interested in cars and design in general. Exploring the “past, technology and future of car design”, the exhibition is one of the most comprehensive and important collections of cars ever to appear in a non-auto specific environment. It features rare gems such as this two-tone Ferrari 166MM Barchetta from 1948,
and one of my favourite cars of all-time, the Mercedes 300 SL Gulwing from 1954.
Where this exhibition really scores is in considering car design as an art - a design discipline capable of standing on its own - and exploring the process behind, and evolution of, the subject. For me, the cars are stunning, but the stand out pieces were the original sketches, technical drawings and video footage - which will appeal to a much broader audience than those simply interested in cars for cars sake. It was great to see the development behind vehicles like the Fiat Nuova 500,
and the wooden bucks used to produce the famous Alfa grilles of the ‘30s, '40s and '50s.
I was at MART to talk on a panel who were discussing the relationship between architecture and cars – something I spend quite a lot of time considering in my other role as a researcher at the Royal College of Art, where I’m exploring the future of the car in the city – more of which in the future.
I sat alongside architect Marco Visconti, responsible for much of Ferrari’s new complex at Maranello - and the man behind the hospital-clean environment in which the current range of Ferraris are brought to life. (Car nuts argue Ferraris are born, rather than merely ‘built’).
The restrained, cool spaces of the Ferrari buildings formed a rather interesting contrast with the work presided over by another speaker - Lars Teichmann of Zaha Hadid architects. He explained how the practice’s factory for BMW in Leipzig, Germany - which produces the 3-series range - came to form a hybrid building of car plant and administration/technical office. The striking result being that part finished BMWs form a slow-moving procession high above the desks of white-collar desk workers below.
Creating theatre out of the process of building a car, this sterling-prize nominated building challenges the assumptions of anyone who thinks that car factories have to be dull, dark places and BMW apparently do tours if you ask nicely.
There are other one-day conferences planned over the next few months at MART as part of 'Mito Macchina', on varying subjects connected with the past and future of the car, including:
- 02.02.07 - The car industry today
- 24.02.07 - The car and the arts
- 24.03.07 - The car and the environment
- 21.04.07 - Classic cars and collecting.
(apologies for the lack of links - their site's a bit lacking in information - if you want to know more, e-mail me here)
If the one I spoke at on Saturday is anything to go by, they will be well worth checking out. The location and food isn't half-bad either.
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 22nd January 2007
Comments