Events, installations, and unprecedented collaborations mark the ongoing success of Milan Design Week, Fuorisalone, dedicated to celebrating design culture and its diverse intersections. The 21st edition of Fuorisalone presents a myriad of unmissable appointments, showcasing a vibrant scenario infused with culture, creativity, and beauty.
On the occasion, the prestigious Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology unveils an initiative that fosters an interactive dialogue, seamlessly intertwining the essence and essence of Ducati’s highly sought-after motorcycle across past, present, and future dimensions. Forma – Feelings designed by Ducati in Borgo Panigale was thought as an exhibition in seven steps, to fully open their inner innovation process to visitors while guiding them on an authentic journey through the stylistic evolution of the Panigale V4, the flagship creation of the renowned Italian motorcycle manufacturer.
Ducati exhibition: the Panigale V4 between beauty and technology
Through Forma, Ducati aims to engage not only the brand’s enthusiasts, the “ducatisti”, but also a broader audience. It presents an ambitious project underscored by meticulous attention to detail. It encapsulates an idea capable of narrating nearly a century of history where passion intertwines with style, with a focal point on design and performance.
The Panigale V4, the quintessential high-performance sportbike produced by Ducati, renowned for its exceptional power, agility, and cutting-edge technology and flagship and icon of the Borgo Panigale range, takes center stage in a meticulous fascinating recounting of Ducati’s product development journey from concept to delivery on the market of an object of desire which is cherished generation after generation.
Within Forma, the exhibition meticulously traces the significant milestones of its development process, encapsulating a narrative framed by the pure dualism between technology and beauty. These fundamental elements serve as the cornerstone of the historic Bolognese brand, defining its essence and legacy.
The Ducati journey begins
«Every Ducati product embodies several core values that are essential to us. Our bikes must present an essential design, a body in which each element has a precise function. Another distinctive feature is authenticity; if, for example, a part of the bike is magnesium colored, then that part must be made of magnesium», explains Stefano Tarabusi, Ducati Design Manager.
«Inevitable are sensuality and sportiness. If the design is truly effective when in the presence of a Ducati, people will feel the urge to touch it. And this is most clearly visible at trade shows where we exhibit our products. At the same time, the company sees racing engraved in its DNA: every bike, the Panigale primarily but not only, has elements of strong dynamism, which immediately recall the circuit environment».
The journey at the Milanese museum opens with a space dedicated to the “Brief”, a document outlining the various conceptual parameters and characteristics the bike must embody. Subsequently, the first step in the Ducati development process is a creative phase in which moodboards are created and ideas shared. Here, the motorbike is not yet fully and concretely visible nor tangible; the objective is to put an abstract concept down on paper, a sensation that the product will have to convey.
Ducati exhibition: the itinerary continues
The tour then continues, discovering the famous motorbike manufacturer and the next steps behind each of its vehicles. Stefano Tarabusi explains: «Starting with the moodboards, we then move on to drawing sketches. In the exhibition, visitors can admire several of them, which are truly small works of art. These are never purely abstract but always developed from a reasonable technical basis. Only then is it possible to translate what is drawn into reality».
As the exhibition draws to a close, the final stages of the style development process include creating various models used to verify the proportions and design of the vehicle. First, the so-called “Clay Model” is created, a prototype made from a material similar to clay, which is hard at room temperature and malleable when heated. Why is this step so important? Simple: it gives a precise image of how the design of the finished motorbike will look, emphasizing every tiny line, curve, or edge.
This is followed by the “Master Model”, made in a particular shade of neutral grey, which allows us to understand how light affects the surface of the motorbike, and the “Clinic Model”, which only apparently looks like a finished vehicle. It is made of rigid material and is intended to be a reference prototype: the finished motorbike will have to reflect the aesthetics of this model exactly.
An ode to Made in Italy
Forma – Feelings designed by Ducati in Borgo Panigale pays tribute not only to a world-famous brand. The exhibition emphasizes how beauty, art, and technology can coexist in the same project, dialoguing with each other and resulting in an extraordinary end product. Ducati is a shining example of this, remaining on the one hand strictly anchored to the beauty of Made in Italy, made of soft and harmonious lines, and on the other projected towards the future and continuous innovation.
«We believe that our future as a company is made up of a mix of technology and artistic research, especially linked to the Renaissance», says Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali. «We want to show our attachment to beauty and art, which is the distinctive element of the Made in Italy brands. And it is no coincidence that today we are in the Science Museum dedicated to Leonardo, to highlight a precise dualism: that between art and science, which aligns well with the Ducati brand vision».
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