500 Car

The Fiat 500 car to which the 1959 Compasso d'oro is awarded is a typical example in the automotive field of a shape resulting from the close integration of techniques typical of large scale industrial and mechanical mass production and the particular economic needs inherent in the production of a vehicle intended for mass popular consumption. The award, underlining the courageous sacrificing of the traditional figurative nature of the automobile through a careful re-examination of its overall fundamental elements, is intended to highlight the fact that this concept, in addition to having led the designer to the maximum in limiting superficial standard decorative elements, marks an important step forward on the road towards a new expressive level of authenticity within this technique