Roberto Giolito | |
|---|---|
 2004 Fiat Trepiùno Concept | |
| Born | (1962-11-10)November 10, 1962 (age 63) Ancona, Italy |
| Alma mater | Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche |
| Occupation | Automobile Designer |
| Known for | Fiat Multipla,Fiat Trepiùno,Fiat 500 (2007) |
_-EDITED.jpg)
Roberto Giolito (Ancona, 10 November 1962) is an Italianautomobiledesigner. Acting as Chief Designer atFiat,[1] Giolito is widely known[2][3] for theFiat Multipla (1998, exhibited atMoMA,New York), and the 2004Fiat Trepiùno concept — precursor to theFiat 500 of 2007, votedCar of the Year in 2008 andWorld Car Design of the Year 2009.
Born in 1962 inAncona,Italy, Giolito graduated in industrial design fromIstituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche (Higher Institute for Artistic Industries, ISIA) inRome in 1985. For four years he worked in graphic, communications and furniture design before joining Fiat in 1989.
In high school Giolito played jazz bass, playing in a high school program with American masters including saxophonistLee Konitz and playing through design school, earning money on the side by teaching music. Giolito continues to play jazz music, and collects vintage vacuum-tube-powered audio equipment.[4]
Giolito has received design influence from a range of sources, includingEttore Sottsass’s Olivetti portable electric typewriter; an earlyApple II computer with which he designed his home as well as a battery-powered car withChris Bangle — and architects includingle Corbusier andJean Nouvel.[4]
In July 1989 Giolito won a position at Fiat, after responding to an advertisement looking for computer-savvy young designers.At the advanced design studio, Giolito penned several concept cars, including theFiat Downtown (1993), Zic (1994), and Ecobasic (2000).[5] At Fiat, he has designed experimental electric vehicles, sedans, sports cars (e.g.,Maserati) as well as a farm tractor for New Holland.
In 2001, he was nominated to chief director atFiat S.p.A. and is currently the head of Fiat &Abarth Design. He continues to work on new small models for the company.
In 1998 he designed the much discussed and highly controversialFiat Multipla, both criticized and praised, achieving only meager commercial success, and was exhibited in the 1999MoMA exhibition "Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century".[6] Proclaimed "Car of the Year" by the magazineTop Gear and for several consecutive years was awarded the "Family car of the year".
In 2007 Giolito designed theFiat 500:car of the year in 2008,World car design of the year in 2009 andCompasso d'Oro forindustrial design in 2011.
From 2011 to 2015, atFCA Giolito was head designer of the Centro Stile for the Fiat and Abarth brands and also Vice President of the design center for theEMEA market.
Since 2016 he has been Head ofFCA Heritage, the department tasked with safeguarding, publicising and promoting the historic legacy of FCA's Italian brands.
| Related companies |
|  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current models |
| |||||||||||
| Historic models (List) |
| |||||||||||
| Concept models | ||||||||||||
| Racing cars | ||||||||||||
| Modified Racing cars | ||||||||||||
| Abarth cars | ||||||||||||
| Armored vehicles | ||||||||||||
| People | ||||||||||||
