On the occasion of its 90th anniversary, Pininfarina SpA, the design-focused sister company to startup automaker Automobili Pininfarina, is launching an international design competition that challenges students from all around the world to create something that expresses their dreams for the future. The “Design Reset: New Dreams for a New World” initiative is engaging prestigious international schools that enables the community of creative young people to rethink what human experiences will be like in the “new normal” during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pininfarina says that design has the ability to innovate continuously while enhancing the lives of people. It has practiced this philosophy for nearly a century with such classics as the Modulo concept car of 1970.

“Pininfarina has built 90 years of innovation,” said Pininfarina CEO Silvio Angori, for the unveiling of a postage stamp of the car by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development in October. “The symbol of this journey is the Modulo, still considered, half a century later to be an icon of motor racing due to a revolutionary design that makes it look like a car from the future.”

The Modulo was an extreme, single-volume Berlinetta experimental prototype of a futuristic car that broke the mold of traditional styling language shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970. It won 22 international design awards and became the archetype of automotive design of the 1970s. A number of subsequent supercars would find their inspiration in the lean, descending front hood, the low roof, and the wedge profile. Developed on a Ferrari 512S chassis and just 93 cm (36.6 in) tall, the Modulo was characterized by two overlapping body shells, with the front, canopy, and trunk combined in a single arching curve.

Fast forward to 2020. Pininfarina believes the whole approach to designing and life has been questioned during the new normal. Attitudes are affecting various areas of design, from product to architecture, UX/UI, and all forms of transportation. There is particular sensitivity to the kind of future experiences that design should deliver and that people might want to rethink or change completely after the pandemic.

The contest will involve the new generations to rethink a positive future way of moving and living, submitting projects where product and experience come together. It is free for anyone to enter as long as they are over the age of 18 and attending the following schools:

Students will have the chance to submit their solutions inspired by three different themes.

  • Smart Individual Mobility: A new way to move that is easier, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, safe, and comfortable for the individual.
  • Smart Social Mobility: A new way to move together, namely create new forms of collective mobility that promote the concept of sharing and a sustainable lifestyle.
  • Smart Spaces: A new way to live together, namely create a temporary outdoor pavilion to be completely built off-site through rapid prototyping, digital fabrication, and/or robotic technologies.

The competition closes on March 31st, 2021.

The winner of each category will be awarded a six-month Internship at Pininfarina’s design studios in Torino, Miami, or Shanghai. A Special Chairman Award will go to the work that best addresses Pininfarina design values. The Design Wanted Special Award will go to the best architectural vision awarded by the publication designwanted.com.

For more info on the design contest, visit designcontest.pininfarina.com.