ferrari world design contest 2011

just announced, the winners and shortlisted concept cars of the ‘ferrari world design contest 2011’ imagine the hypercar of ferrari’s future; here, a view of the scale models from the shortlisted schools image © designboom

the winners of the ‘ferrari world design contest 2011‘ have just been announced at the ferrari complex in maranello, italy. the competition challenged students from fifty design schools across the world to create the ferrari of the ‘third-millennium man’, a hypercar whose design reflects social changes and technical innovation without sacrificing the brand’s performance and iconic appearance.

over the four months from november 2010 through february of 2011, over 400 projects from over fifty schools were submitted to the contest, seven universities of which were shortlisted for participation in the five-month second phase of the event. autodesk, the international company behind 3D design and digital media software like alias, autoCAD, and maya, was an integral collaborator in the project, providing its 3D modeling software alias to all students, who generated both 2D and 3D mockups of their concepts. entrants then created their own 1:4 scale model of their vehicle, with emphasis on detailing and the car interior in addition to the broader concept demands.

first, second, and third prizes for the design award were as follows: 1st prize – ‘eternità’ concept, by hongik university (seoul, south korea) – kim cheong ju, ahn dre, lee sahngseok 2nd prize – ‘xezri’ concept, by istituto europeo di design (turin, italy) – samir sadikhov 3rd prize – ‘cavallo bianco’ concept, by royal college of art (london, UK) – henry cloke, qi haitao

the jury also awarded two special awards alongside the top three prizes: the ‘autodesk technical award for exemplary technical usage of the alias software, which was awarded to the first prize hongik university team, and the ‘most unexpected technological solution’, awarded to the team from china’s jiangnan university for its ‘drake’ concept.

continue reading below for more details about each of the winning concepts.

view from the award ceremony at the ferrari complex in maranello, italy image © designboom

on the competition ferrari chairman luca di montezemolo reflects: ‘nurturing the creativity of young people is a fundamental strategy in every walk of life. the ferrari world design contest represents a window that we want to keep open on the world and the creative energy of the next generation. who better than the youth can express the dreams and desires of man?‘

‘eternità’ by dre ahn, chung ju kim and sang suk lee image © designboom

1st prize: ‘eternità’ by korean designers dre ahn, chung ju kim and sang suk lee – hongik university, korea winner of the jury special award – ‘autodesk technical award’

the ‘eternità’ concept features an advanced electric drive and traditional gasoline mode. the exterior is composed of carbon fiber covered with a lithium coating, capable of supplying electricity to the vehicle’s engine.

‘a 2-seater super barchetta which has light, layered carbon surfaces and the traditional f1 design heritage of ferrari in a project

focused on hyper-efficiency. we propose an innovative powertrain consisting of light-layered carbon surfaces, a physical

flywheel energy storage system, superconductive motor which is both powerful and highly efficient, and hydrogen generator.‘

detail of the fly-wheel energy storage concept that stores kinectic energy for conversion and use in the vehicle’s battery image © designboom

the ‘eternità’ concept image © designboom

‘eternità’ designers dre ahn, chung ju kim, sang suk lee image © designboom

image © designboom

concept sketches

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samir sadikhov image © designboom

2nd prize: ‘xezri’ by azerbaijan designer samir sadikhov – IED turin, italy

‘the aim was to produce not only the most innovative but also the most beautiful ferrari ever, inspired by natural wind, an ultimate ‘hypercar’. therefore my concept wanted to represent real beauty fluttering in the wind, highlighting not only estethic aspects but also depicting wind as a free energy for the car. trying to use flexible aerodynamics elements, by which i was inspired, the wing of the vehicle has been positioned horizontally on the roof of the car so as not to block aerodynamism. used as a spoiler, this wing raises when exceeding the 200km/h speed and intake under the wing allows the wind to get in and cool down the engine. as a second innovation i propose small air-turbines to charge the interior devices which are located in the side intakes.‘

‘xezri’ by samir sadikhov image © designboom

‘xezri’ sketch by samir sadikhov

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‘cavallo bianco’ by henry cloke and qi haitao image © designboom

3rd prize: ‘cavallo bianco’ by henry cloke (UK) and qi haitao (china) – royal college of art, london

‘the cavallo bianco is a winter hypercar for a frozen riviera; designed for racing over an ice lake and arriving in a luxury ski resort. it continues ferrari’s combination of excitement and glamour in a new segment for the company, taking into account climate shifts and expanding russian and chinese markets. a turbo charged 4 cylinder engine runs on bio-ethanol to generate electrical power, passing through a battery to eliminate turbo lag, and driving an electric motor at every corner for maximum grip in icy conditions.‘

‘cavallo bianco’ sketch by henry cloke and qi haitao

——————— render of the ‘drake’ concept, winner of the jury special award for ‘most unexpected technological solution’

jury special award – ‘most unexpected technological solution’: ‘the drake’ by chinese designers pan dai, zhou yimin, wu jia – jiangnan university (china)

the hybrid ‘drake’ concept utilizes microturbines in conjunction with four electric motors and a diesel gas tank to provide high power and torque without sacrificing concerns of ecology and sustainability. capable of operation in either a hybrid or a 100% battery powered mode, the design permits a variable number of turbines to spin in response to the amount of power required. all gases expelled by the turbines are funneled through a rear inset in the car, making use of the venturi effect to generate downforce to increase the car’s stability at high speeds.

‘an exciting feature of the ‘drake’ is the power sensor body frame. hidden in the car’s body is a powerful function that, when enabled, allows the sensors within the car to read the driver’s feeling (the heartbeat, the widening of the pupils, the sound of his voice) to modify the vehicle’s body accordingly. the body is made by surfaces whose binding areas will be forced to open, stretching out and revealing a strong light shining inside. the ‘hyper connective tissue’ (‘HiCT’) represents the ‘drake”s awakened power and allows the car to change its aerodynamic to meet the more intense way to driving.‘

concept sketches for the ‘drake’ design

left: andrea militello, ferrari exterior designer / design contest coordinator right: flavio manzoni, senior vice president of ferrari image © designboom