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Aug 8 -Aug 15, 2010 |
Extending Its Design Reach
Car legend Pininfarina shows its versatility by branching out beyond car designs
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2003-11-09
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Ares Line chair
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With its classic cars for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lancia and Maserati, Italian car body designer Pininfarina is a quintessential success story of the Italian design industry. But since 1986, the Turin-based company has been active in the field of product design as well.
The company's product design division, Pininfarina Extra, has in recent years designed products such as a coffee maker, mobile phone, kitchen system and even high tech running shoes for Italian sportswear giant Fila. More recently, ski boot manufacturer Lange enlisted Pininfarina's established reputation for innovation to create a new, ahem, cutting edge ski boot. Their collaboration yielded Lange's new World Cup line of boots, which features an aerodynamic polyether shell. The concept behind the new Pininfarina-designed boot was to provide a virtual "second skin" feel for the competitive user.
The car designer also brought its automotive expertise to a new series of office seating by Italian manufacturer Ares Line. Drawing on its experience with car seating, Pininfarina designed the new Xten seating series for Ares Line by putting a premium on ergonomics and user comfort. The Xten line features nylon mesh seating and arm rests and a chair back made of aluminum. Perhaps office chair designs have become a new niche for car stylists; another car design legend, Giorgetto Giugiaro, recently produced a sensuous new chair design that is being marketed in North America by Toronto contract furniture manufacturer Teknion.
The Pininfarina car design firm got its start in 1930 when founder Battista "Pinin" Farina decided to start his own business after apprenticing with an older brother. A trip to America and a job offer from Henry Ford - which Farina turned down - provided more inspiration for the aspiring independent car designer. Farina proved his capacity for innovation almost from the outset by introducing clean-lined aerodynamic styling which came to define the Italian look of car design. His classics included the Lancia Aprilia (1937), the Cisitalia 202 (1947), the Alfa Romeo Guilietta (1956) and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB (1960). Design writer Penny Sparke has called the Cisitalia 202 "an unadorned sculptural form." Its design earned it a spot in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit in New York in 1951.
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