Walter de Silva
Walter Maria de Silva | |
---|---|
Born | Lecco, Italy | 27 February 1951
Nationality | Italian |
Occupation | Designer |
Years active | 1972-present |
Walter Maria de Silva (born 27 February 1951) is an Italian
Career
Fiat, 1972–1977
Walter de Silva began his career in 1972 at age 21, working for Centro Stile Fiat.[1]
I.DE.A. Institute, 1977–1986
After his experience at
Alfa Romeo, 1986–1999
In 1986 Walter de Silva was recruited away from the I.DE.A. Institute to become head of Centro Stile Alfa Romeo. Walter de Silva remained in this role until 1999.[1]
At Alfa Romeo, de Silva led the renewal of the brand's design language and repositioning.[2]
SEAT, 1999–2002
In 1999 Ferdinand Piëch assigned Walter de Silva to work for the Volkswagen Group SEAT division, with the aim of injecting verve and sportiness to SEAT design. The result was SEAT 'auto emoción' philosophy which was first demonstrated in the 2000 SEAT Salsa and the 2001 SEAT Tango concept cars,[3] as a foretaste of SEAT new design language, with the latter receiving in 2002 the 'Autonis Award' in the Concept Car category.[4] His more expressive design approach has since influenced the form and look of numerous cars, such as the 2002 SEAT Córdoba and SEAT Ibiza, as well as the 2004 SEAT Altea and 2005 SEAT León which were highly acclaimed and subsequently received several design awards (e.g. Red dot design award, Autonis award, 'The World's Most Beautiful Automobile 2004' award in Milan [5][6][7] etc.). During his time at SEAT, de Silva was approached by Volkswagen head of design Hartmut Warkuß, and commissioned to submit a new Bugatti design for the upcoming revival of the brand. De Silva's design was rejected in favour of Warkuß's own design, which would later become the Bugatti Veyron.[8]
Audi brand group, 2002–2007
In March 2002 Walter de Silva was appointed Head of Design to the now-defunct Audi brand group which encompassed the Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini brands. Volkswagen Group management charged de Silva with giving the Audi range a more emotional design language which included the controversial introduction of the full-height, single-frame front grille that now adorns all Audi models. His first full design for a production Audi was the 2005 A6. He has since gone on to contribute to the 2005 Audi Q7, 2006 Audi TT and the 2007 Audi A5, which is reportedly his favourite design.[9]
Volkswagen Group, 2007–2015
Following the appointment of former Audi chairman
Walter De Silva & Partners, 2020–present
After some time of inactivity, Walter De Silva launched Walter De Silva & Partners with other designers. This new company offers services of design consultancy to car manufacturers with a strong point on brand & product identity. With his partners, Walter De Silva was in charge of the design of the Hongqi S9 designed for SilkFAW.
Designs
- Alfa Romeo
- Alfa Romeo Proteo (1991)
- Alfa Romeo 146(1995)
- Alfa Romeo 156 (1997)
- Alfa Romeo 166 (1998)
- Alfa Romeo 147 (2000)
- Bugatti
- Bugatti Veyron Concept (1999)
- SEAT
- SEAT Salsa & Salsa Emoción (2000)
- SEAT Tango roadster/spyder/coupé/Racer (2001)
- SEAT Ibiza (2002)
- SEAT Córdoba (2002)
- SEAT Altea Prototipo (2003)
- SEAT Altea (2004)
- SEAT Toledo (2004)
- SEAT León (2005)
- Audi
- Lamborghini
- Lamborghini Miura concept (2006)
- Lamborghini Egoista (2013)
- Volkswagen
- Volkswagen CC (2008)
- Volkswagen Golf (2008)
- Volkswagen Scirocco (2008)
- Volkswagen Polo (2009)
- Volkswagen Amarok (2010)
- Volkswagen Jetta (2010)
- Volkswagen Passat (2010)
- Volkswagen Sharan (2010)
- Volkswagen Touareg (2010)
- Volkswagen Beetle (2011)
- Volkswagen up!(2011)
- Volkswagen Touran (2015)
- Leica Camera
- Leica M9 Titanium (2010)[11]
- SilkFAW Automotive
- S9 (2019)
References
- ^ a b c d "Who's Where: Walter de'Silva appointed Head of VW Group Design". Car Design News. Car Design News Ltd. 2007-01-25. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
Volkswagen has just announced that Walter de'Silva, 55, has been appointed Head of Volkswagen Group Design.
- ^ 'Who's Where: Walter de'Silva appointed Head of VW Group Design', Car Design News, 25 Jan 2007 "Walter de'Silva - Car Design News". Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-04-12., accessed 27 Jan 2007
- ^ Frankfurt Motor Show 2001 - Highlights "Frankfurt Motor Show 2001 Highlights - SEAT Tango". Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
- ^ SEAT Tango receives the Autonis design award. "Car.kak.net » Seat Tango receives the "autonis" design award". Archived from the original on 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ SEAT Altea wins special award from an international jury "SEAT Altea Wins Special Award from an International Jury". Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
- ^ SEAT Altea receives the Autonis design award "SEAT Altea Receives the 'autonis' Design Award". Archived from the original on 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
- ^ SEAT Altea prototype receives european design award "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Filipponio, Frank (6 January 2010). "Walter de'Silva's forgotten 1999 Bugatti Concept". Autoblog. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ "interview_with_walter_desilva". europeancarweb.com. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- ^ 'VW sent back to drawing board', Cartoday.com, 2 Feb 2007, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), accessed 11 Feb 2007 - ^ "Leica Camera AG - Photography - M9 Titanium". En.leica-camera.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2010-12-21.