Pforzheim University recently held its annual degree show, showcasing the works of new designers graduating from the school’s globally acclaimed Transportation Design Masters and Bachelor courses. The show also featured the works of current students enrolled on the BATD and MATD programs, including a sponsored project by Italian brand Alfa Romeo. First-year students designed an exterior proposal, second-year students presented interior design concepts.
The brief called for students to design a vehicle that embodies Alfa Romeo’s design DNA in the form of a crossover coupe while seeking inspiration from one of the brand’s historic models. The mutually beneficial exercise not only tested the designers’ capabilities and knowledge of the brand’s storied history but also enabled Alfa Romeo to gain some interesting insight into how these young designers could evolve the brand to cater to the future generation of customers.
Under the watchful eye of Prof. Andreas Hoffman, the students created short 3D animations to showcase their projects. Watch all of them below.
Alfa Romeo Sport Elementare Interior by Ashish Gogte
The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, a street version of the Tipo 33 Racing prototype, inspired Ashish Gogte’s Sport Elemantare concept interior.
The Stradale was a powerful beast of a car, but the exterior design was very calm, elegant and sensuous. Gogte used this contrast as a key starting point for his project, reflecting the character of the Stradale in the interior elements of his concept.
“I wanted the instrument cluster and the steering wheel to be the main influencing elements in the interior to make it more driver-focused,” he says. “The steering wheel can stow away in the instrument cluster, thereby creating a possibility for [the driver to use the car in] semi-autonomous or fully autonomous mode.
Alfa Romeo GTAttivo Interior by Ramon Bäurle
Ramon Bäurle’s two-door GTAttivo coupe interior create an interactive experience between the car and the driver, emphasizing the sporty driving experience of the classic Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA. “I reinterpreted the name GTA (Gran Turismo Allegerita) so that the letter ‘A’ now stands for the Italian word ‘Attivo’ (Active),” he says.
The interactive user experience stems from the sculptural shape of the steering wheel and extends through a symmetrical graphic in the main cabin. All of the interior elements — backrest, digital interface and main interior architecture — were built around the driver.
The focal point of the interior is the wedge-shaped architecture that surrounds the two front seats of the 2+2 seat concept. The three-dimensional shape is a strong visual and functional part of the interior, which creates a safe and sporty seating position inside the car. It gives the feeling of sitting in a sports car monocoque and replaces the function of a classic roll cage.
The instruments and buttons are kept to a minimum to achieve a visually clean and simple interior. All the necessary functions are integrated into a digital interface panel for the driver and an additional holographic 3D display, located in the center of the dashboard.
Alfa Romeo Evo Concept Interior by Mostafa Bonakdar
The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1, a sporty car built for both road and racing was Mostafa Bonakdar’s inspiration, which is conveyed through the visual lightness of the exterior shape and the tapering aerodynamic form of the rear cabin space.
The triangular shape allows for a three-seater layout giving each passenger the same visual experience and visibility towards the outside world. Bonakdar was inspired by dynamic and flowing shapes and wanted to make the elements inside of the car float to communicate the feeling of lightness.
The concept’s main focus is the center console and the dashboard shape, which wraps around the front passengers and shape the back seat. This also serves to visually divide the space between the front passengers and the rear passenger.
The concept has two states, autonomous mode and driving mode. In autonomous mode the steering wheel is concealed under the dashboard; it rotates and moves outward when in driving mode. The shape of the dashboard twists to provide the space for the projection of the necessary information for the driver.
Alfa Romeo Evo Concept Interior by Jeffery Jiang
Jeffery Jiang’s goal was to capture the sportiness and sensual flow of the Alfa Romeo brand, though he didn’t reference any particular historical model.
Using red silk as inspiration, he translated the flow and elegance of the material into an innovative form language, wrapping the negative volume with defined shapes.
The lines wrap the soft volume of the interior form language and all of the different elements such as the center console. When the car door is opened, the main architecture, which refers to the middle console and the middle part of the seat, showcases a sporty yet elegant statement.
Alfa Romeo Evo Concept Interior by Jinyoung Yoon
Jinyoung Yoon’s Alfa Romeo interior project sought to extend the driving experience in the autonomous driving future.
His concept aims to provide an environment in which the driver and occupants can comfortably travel long distances — with the support of autonomous technology — while keeping the emphasis on driving pleasure.
The dashboard surrounds the driver seat so that the driver can enjoy and focus on driving. When the car is in autonomous mode, the driver seat turns back to face other passengers.
Alfa Romeo Duetto Interior Concept by Jiaqi Wang
Jiaqi Wang’s Duetto interior concept takes inspiration from its namesake model, the 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto designed by Franco Martinengo at Pininfarina. The two-seat interior, devised for romantic weekend getaways, was designed to be simple and flexible.
The driver-centric cabin is clean and minimal, with contrasting red, white and black colorways and a recessed light strip that encircles both occupants in a romantic gesture. The interior form changes depending on perspective, with the iconic Alfa Romeo crest taking on the shape of a triangle only when viewed by the driver.
