Officine Abarth, Geneva International Motor Show 2016
The Officine Abarth are timeless spaces, made with iron girders, raw concrete, sheets polished by the many tyres that have ridden over them, wire mesh and workbenches where every day human intelligence marries with the ability of hand work. A handcraft laboratory rich in raw materials and for this reason naturally elegant. Carlo Abarth’s heritage is made of this: the pleasure of touching with hand and perceive with a naked eye the dedication that can be found in every single car. A space rich in history but always projected into the future. The Officine Abarth are the place where still today technology and tradition merge to search absolute performance, and materialize the concept of passion.
The “Officine Abarth” (Abarth Workshop) projected for the historic brand by the architectural firm LAB71 architetti for the last international auto show in Geneva (3 - 13 March 2016), has been awarded La mention spéciale du Creativity Award 2016 - catégorie: coup de coeur du jury du Club de publicité et de communication de Genève.
As the architects Giovanni Castellano and Massimiliano Gotti Porcinari say: “The project has been conceived with the intention of recreating the spaces and the experience of workshop, where the creative spirit can be felt and passion is physical”.
The stand, on the podium with Rolls Royce and Bentley’s stands, displays an extremely material feature given by the employment of warm materials, such as bricks enamelled white or the visible concrete in different shades of grey. The use of industrial iron sheets, metallic wrestled nets lied over other materials visible junctures and weld joints create a simply real and evocative atmosphere of the Abarth’s world and history.
The stand is composed by an outdoor area for the exposition of the product and by two main inner areas.
The first inner area, which is open to the public, reproduces the interior of a mechanic’s workshop, at the center of which an auto lift, surrounded by a staircase, is situated in order to allows access to a raised level; in this space people will have the possibility to live, by using some touch screens, an interactive experience and make a direct acquaintance of Abarth’s world and history. This area is then completed by a Mopar accessories store, on the model of a typical space for workshop tools.
In the second inner area is situated the brand’s office; the entry is made by a glass window with an iron frame. Inside the space, an electrical steel conduits exposed system and a meeting table created on a classic Abarth kit case, complete the mood of the stand. The result is a real space, on which experience and experimentation, design and style, elegance and impulse live together.
