Lancia was a main sponsor of the Torino Film Festival this month where the brand presented a new initiative, the LanciaCafé, which was open to actors, directors, screenwriters, critics and guests of the event, in addition, of course, to the festival public. The café was housed in a tensioned membrane structure set up in the pedestrian zone in the old centre of Turin, between the National Film Museum and the Massimo Cinema (corner of Via Montebello and Via Verdi), and was the prototype for the LanciaCafés to be opened all around Europe and the rest of the world in the future, as ambassadors of the Lancia world.

During the Torino Film Festival the LanciaCafé played host to official festival meetings, but also to debates and other festival events. Lancia also formed a partnership with Coming Soon Television, which broadcast a programme dedicated to the Festival from the LanciaCafé every day. The structure also accommodated a photographic exhibition, entitled “Pierluigi. On Cinema”, including a selection of books about the film world, organised by Edizioni Photology. And finally, visitors to the LanciaCafé were able to test drive the new Lancia Ypsilon.

This year Lancia is celebrating its centenary, and has chosen to do so by linking up with cinema. Indeed Lancia cars have co-starred in some of the key scenes from world famous Italian films, coming to symbolise an era with attributes such as beauty, light-heartedness, freedom and poetry. Lancia represents a combination of history and innovation, concepts which really come to the fore at the Turin event – in the city where the Italian film industry came into being, but also where contemporary Italian cinema is currently developing and growing most strongly. Lancia also supported the Torino Film Festival with an award, the first prize for the section dedicated to the search and discovery of new authors of contemporary cinema. For this edition it was known as the “Lancia Award for Best Film – International Feature Film Competition”, and was presented during the award ceremony on Saturday November 18. This year Lancia assigned the Euro 20,500 prize to the best film chosen for the 24th edition from 12 films (of which 4 were world premieres, 3 international premieres and 2 European premieres).

LanciaCafé: a space that opens onto the city, to communicate the brand’s values and style

A place to meet friends and to encounter the ‘Lancia world’, interfacing with the worldwide LanciaCafé network. A new meeting-place, created to make the brand’s history, present and future part of the daily life of new generations all around the globe. The LanciaCafé concept is quality-oriented, where every detail, from the architecture of the interiors to the food, is absolutely in line with the elegant temperament and quality inherent in all Lancia cars, some of which are on public display in this refined, harmonious setting.
 

The interior design of the LanciaCafé reflects the elegance and craftsmanship of the interior of Lancia cars: from the leather upholstery to the hand-stitching and the care that goes into every detail.

The LanciaCafés are real showcases of the brand, in the relaxed, convivial atmosphere of a sophisticated lounge. A space in continuous evolution, dynamic, the ideal venue for cultural events, presentations and parties that are consistent and in line with the brand’s historic characteristics: its originality, its international outlook, its elegance. The general concept for the project springs from a semantic interpretation of the brand values and a new take on Lancia’s logo graphics. The Lancia shield logo, made of three curved, broken lines, is clearly a major stylistic element in the overall design of the brand’s vehicles, and in details such as the radiator grille. On a larger scale, this new symbol becomes an architectural theme, the leitmotiv of the design concept.

The broken lines, evolving into architectural features, give rise to a system of partitions, like the wings on a stage, that characterise the space. The position of these wings and the materials used to construct them makes the space appear more or less ‘dense’. Thus, different materials such as glass, perforated sheet metal, plasterboard and backlit panels, help to create an image of space that is deconstructed, filtered, and dynamic: a non-orthogonal, unconventional environment that mirrors the unique design of Lancia cars.

And indeed, Lancia cars have been appreciated for over a century precisely because of their original engineering, their innovative features, the rich, luxurious materials that go into them, and their shapes and colours that are both elegant and surprising. For a brand that still aims to surprise, even after a hundred years, a space like LanciaCafé is the perfect setting, with the right atmosphere and surroundings, in which to experience the sense of balance and well-being that Lancia cars can give.

Every detail of the LanciaCafé is and will be designed to enhance and gratify the tastes of everyone who feels part of the “Lancia world”. Like the enormous ‘aquarium’, consisting of three transparent panels, which will serve as a sort of internal ‘display window’ for the latest models. Everyone will be able to see, try out and inspect them – filmed by a CCTV system that will project the star of the moment around the café a split second later.