The Istituto Europeo di Design of Turin, an institution that is now well established worldwide as one of the top car design schools, will be presenting a project, for the third consecutive year, at the Geneva International Motor Show. The project is Haizea, a concept car designed by the students of the Master RSP in Transportation  Design - work experience (a.y. 2004-2005).

The full scale model (length 4965 mm, width 1935 mm, height 1420mm, wheel base 2720 mm) is the result of research into the identity of the Lancia brand carried out within the context of the Transportation Design Master Course, that aimed to identify the values that best represent the Manufacturer’s image. The project started out by assessing the various identities associated with Lancia cars over the last century: its sporting look and its luxury status for example. The process has involved the analysis of the most significant styles and models that have contributed to establishing Lancia’s prestige and character of the years and that still to this day are considered guiding principles, setting the course for the ongoing development of the Company.

The students, led by Hernan Charalambopoulos, Course Coordinator and Head of IED Automotive, have come up with a concept car that highlights the brand's sporting essence. This concept car has been developed around a frame devised in such a way as to provide the utmost level of both active and passive safety. The mechanical parts of the rear wheel drive engine are housed in a central-rear position, and together with the addition of two electric motors placed above the front wheels, an excellent compromise in terms of distribution of weight, traction and mass has been reached. The passenger compartment, designed around a central chassis developed lengthwise and to which the seats and the instrumentation panel are anchored, absorbs energy in case of a head on collision and provides the structure with both an aesthetic and a functional purpose, not just a load bearing one. This particular chassis structure, “dressed” externally in such a way as to highlight the vehicles architectural values, plays on the asymmetrical disposition of the vehicle’s masses in order to induce a strong sense of movement in the viewer. This movement recreates a feeling of speed thus arousing the sensation of an encounter with a wind (Haizea: “wind”, in the Basque language).
 

It will be the third consecutive year on show at the Geneva International Motor Show for IED Turin: and each time with research projects involving important companies of the automotive sector (Fiat Research Centre, 2004; Fiat, 2005), further proof of the strong connection that the School has managed to build up with the main sector companies. "I must point out – Cesar Mendoza, IED Turin Director says – that once again the project developed in the context of the Master Course has been carried through with great dedication and commitment on behalf of the entire classroom. For the students, the opportunity to study the Lancia brand and design Haizea has undoubtedly led to a development of their professional skills that we believe will  give them a valuable edge when they face the challenge of entering the job market".

The project that IED is presenting in Geneva is the result of a selection that started out with eleven original proposals; six of these have become 1:4 scale models that were subsequently narrowed down to the three final models. From these, we have come down to Haizea, the final model, that stems from the initial project indications presented by Iker Lòpez (for the exterior) and Yavuz Akyldiz (for the interiors), which, after the final selection stage, have represented the basis around which the entire student group has then worked.

Haizea is a project by: Yavuz Akyldiz, Francesco Blancato, Ricardo Casillas, Lilia Vasileva Chernaeva, Dibyendu Roy, Atsuo Fukuhara, Giuseppe Giacomino, Iker Lòpez Totorika, Samir M.  Mahadik, Sabrina Maria Raso Pinheiro Cardoso, Gustavo Alkmim Uemura, with the collaboration of Manuele Amprimo, project tutor and Carlo Palazzani, project assistant, both previously IED students. The model was produced in collaboration with: Vercarmodel, Automotive Lighting, Continental, CTF - Center Tecno Freno, Elaborare, OZ Racing, Model Resine.