Walter de Silva, head of Volkswagen Group’s design, will be the new chairman of ItalDesign Giugiaro.
According to Automotive News, De Silva will keep his position as design director in charge of all of VW’s brands. Under his leadership, Italdesign Giugiaro will become a design and innovation hub for them all, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati included.
Earlier this year, legendary auto designer Giorgetto Giugiaro stepped down from the company that bore his name, which he founded in 1968. At the time he and his son sold their remaining stake in the firm after an Audi buyout in 2010.
De Silva began his career with VW Group in 2000 when Ferdinand Piech appointed him to the company’s SEAT division. In 2002, he began working under Audi, guiding the brand’s design revolution that took place during the 2000s. By 2007, he had become head of VW Design.
Cars credited to de Silva include most modern Audis — including the 2004 A6, 2006 TT, 2005 Q7, A5, and the R8 supercar — as well as the VW CC, 2008 Golf and Scirocco, 2010 Jetta and Passat and Touareg, and 2011 Beetle. De Silva has also penned the 2006 Lamborghini Miura concept and the 2013 Lamborghini Egoista. Prior to VW, he worked at Alfa Romeo.
ItalDesign Giugiaro, which will boast a workforce of 1,000, will also open an academy for designers in 2018 to coincide with its 50th anniversary. In addition to industrial design, the academy will teach students, numbering 50-60 each year, disciplines such as fine arts, history and philosophy, because De Silva believes that “Good design is a product of good culture.”
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