On the Audi model, type and design have lengthy been a excessive precedence; suppose the tremendous smooth and horny A7 sedan, the Bauhaus-inspired TT coupe, the single-frame grille that immediately recognized the marque with its down-the-road graphics.
So when the Bavarians set up a brand new head of design, that’s additionally value a glance.
Massimo Frascella is that individual, a 52-year-old Italian designer who this summer time will succeed Marc Lichte. Lichte ran Audi design since 2014 and can take up a brand new function throughout the Volkswagen Group.
Frascella, a pupil on the Istituto d`Arte Applicata & Design in Turin, ignited his profession at Stile Bertone, and his résumé after that evolves impressively.
He subsequently held positions at Ford Motor Firm and Kia, and since 2011, Frascella has held senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover. He was answerable for the creation of a number of fashions: Discovery Imaginative and prescient Idea (2014), Discovery Sport (2014), Discovery (2016), Velar (2017), Evoque (2019) and Defender. In 2019 he grew to become inventive director of Land Rover and in 2020 design director.
He was additionally instrumental within the growth of the vary of recent electrical Jaguars which are within the works.
“Becoming a member of Audi is a really particular second for me,” Frascella stated. “I’m deeply honored to imagine the function of chief inventive officer and to information such a proficient group in shaping the way forward for the model to new heights of innovation and distinction. I consider within the emotional energy of design to encourage, join, and drive change, and I’m right here to nurture and promote creativity because the beating coronary heart of our model.”
Wanting again a few a long time, it was considered one of Frascella’s predecessors who helped to cement Audi’s popularity in car design: Walter de Silva.
De Silva was appointed head of Audi design in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he supervised the design technique for the whole Volkswagen group, together with the TT, the Scirocco, the Passat and the Golf.
Not a nasty listing of achievements, however in a interview a number of years in the past, de Silva stated that he thought-about the 2007 Audi A5 coupe the top of his automotive design artwork, citing its “intercourse attraction, the form of the lights, the structure.”