The first Gianni Mazzocchi Award – recognising prominent figures worldwide that have made an outstanding contribution to the world of motoring – was presented today, 26 January, at the regular annual conference organised by the car magazine Quattroruote in Palazzo Mezzanotte, the former home of the Milan stock exchange.
The German office of Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram who designed it says that the gold-plated trophy "is more like a laurel wreath than a cup". "The trophy we have designed for the Premio Gianni Mazzocchi is an infinite loop of track, a rollercoaster, racetrack, and a catwalk for 55 iconic car typologies from the last 55 years of automotive history. It traces the iconic 4 weel logo of Quattroruote that this year is celebrating its 55th anniversary" continue the designers. "It's a microarchitecture as well as a playground, a gold plated brass micromotordrome with dramatic take over manoevers, high speed straights and infinitely winding corkscrew corners."
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The final version of the trophy designed by Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram’s German office. The trophy-sculpture is gold-plated metal
This year's debate on "European consumers and the car industry: allies in safety" included speakers Ralph Nader, founder of the US consumer movement (and winner of the award), Marco Tronchetti Provera, president of Pirelli, and Harald J. Wester, CEO of Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. During the morning, an award was presented to the winning car in the Novità dell'anno 2010 (New car of the year) competition, in which Quattroruote readers were asked to vote for their favourite on a shortlist drawn up in-house and the names will be announced of the winning models in the European "My Favourite Car" competition to select the best ten cars of the year, one per market segment. In all, more than 100,000 votes were collected.
The starting point for the design of the Gianni Mazzocchi award trophy was the logo of Quattroruote (left), turned first into a sort of Gordian knot (centre) and then created in 3D (below)
During the ceremony, Clemens Weisshaar added: "Gianni Mazzocchi was one of the italian entrepreneurs that believed in the transformational potential of technology in society and the publications he founded – both Domus as well as Quattroruote – are more than magazines. They have become encyclopedic documents that have been capturing the evolution of the automobile throughout the 20th century and into the new millenium in a unique way – placing architecture and transportation respectively in a wider cultural and social context".
"The trophy we have designed is an infinite loop of track, a rollercoaster, racetrack, and a catwalk for 55 iconic car"
The work process of the trophy, handcrafted in Germany
Reed Kram and Clemens Weisshaar formed Kram/Weisshaarin Munich and Stockholm in 2002 to design spaces, products and media. Key projects include the implementation of the technology for Rem Koolhaas's Prada Epicenter Stores in New York (2001) and Beverly Hills (2004); projections for the Prada Women's Fall/Winter collection fashion shows in Milan (2005); Breeding Tables (2003 – ongoing); Infinite Display (2009) permanent media installations for private collectors and the Outrace installation in Trafalgar Square last September.
The trophy’s wooden box was also designed and produced by Kram/Weisshaar
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