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True Heritage
100+10 Years of True Evolution
Flavio Manzoni
Ferrari Design Centre
True Heritage
Founded in 2010, the Ferrari Design
Centre supervises the entire automotive
design process, to guarantee continuity of
the Ferrari style over time. Flavio Manzoni,
leader of the Ferrari Design Centre, directs
every styling issue of the Ferrari Road cars,
from their body, to the external and inner
components to the upholstering. The de-
sign center is in charge of all the standard
models, the special editions, the Limited
Editions, the one-off models, the concept
cars and a few racing models. In addition,
the Ferrari Design Centre is regularly invol-
ved in the design and conceptual defi nition
of licensed Ferrari products.
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The Cockpit armchairs represent an
intersection, a short circuit, between two
worlds: interior design and car design. The
President and Executive versions are office
chairs that draw inspiration from the mono-
coque seats of historic Ferraris to capture
their emotional aspects. Despite their very
elegant look, these chairs evoke the percep-
tion of speed and the passion for racing cars.
The idea of the armchairs was developed
starting from a shell shape; the seat and the
tilting base integrate a backrest with an
enveloping and modular shape. In addition to
defining the style’s theme, the presence of
gaps between the modules also lightens the
structure. Particular attention was paid to
ergonomic aspects, because in a car, the
seat, more than any other element, defines
the physical relationship between man and
machine. As with the design of the Ferrari
seats, the pressure zones of the padding in
the Cockpit armchairs were mapped to
achieve maximum comfort for the end user.
Even the choice of materials includes
references to the automotive sector; the
external shell is made of carbon or alutex,
materials used on Ferrari cars, while the
central band of the seat echoes racing seats,
while the rotating device is inspired by the
design of a car steering wheel. The stylistic
signature of the armchairs also lies in their
handcrafted beauty; the precise workman-
ship, embellished with stitching such as
topstitching or double riveting, makes the
leather even more refined. Finally, the com-
bination of this craftsmanship with the use
of high-performance materials has made it
possible to obtain a very fine thicknesses for
a sophisticated, extremely distinctive look.
2017
Cockpit
Architects and Designers
