A TASTE FOR DESIGN

MotorVillage is a venue based on an original and unique concept. It allows visitors from the world over to live the "New Italy Experience", unequivocally modern and universal, in the heart of Paris.

A technology, fashion, gastronomy and design village, this new venue's immediate appeal lies in its exceptional architecture. The glass tower at the heart of this unique site offers a multiple-faceted view of the aesthetics of this harmonious space.

Here, gastronomy meets technological innovation, Italian elegance is evident even in the design of the Lounge and Fiat Group’s models are displayed alongside contemporary works of art.

2, Rond-point des Champs-Elysées
75008 Paris - France
Opening hours, access map and transport

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

• NOLITA +2 Italian cuisine now has a Parisian showcase. The NoLita restaurant is headed by Vittorio Beltramelli, a leading ambassador of Italian gastronomy.
• BOUTIQUE +1 Whether you are a fan of automobiles or design, the boutique has something Italian for everyone.
• ROND-POINT 0 On the ground level, the Terrazza Fiat is an invitation to escape to a Roman café terrace with a view over the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées.
• LOUNGE -1 With soft lighting and music, the Lounge is a space where professionals can meet in a comfortable environment. Not open to the public.
• GALLERIA -2 Contemporary artists and iconic names permeate the MotorVillage event area with exhibitions of their latest works.

THE VENUE

MotorVillage is an invitation, a "little Italy" with an avant-garde spirit, a venue that welcomes fresh and unique ideas. Here, gastronomy meets technological innovation, Italian elegance is evident even in the design of the bar, and the Fiat Group’s models are displayed alongside contemporary works of art.

Building site in stopmotion
The venue by Materialiste

THE GENESIS

At the outset, the idea behind MotorVillage was to create a breathing space in the urban landscape, an aesthetic stopover. Designed by the architect Jean Michel Wilmotte, it unfolds across several levels centered around a monumental glass cylinder.

His project's vision, by Muuuz

VISUAL IDENTITY

The logotype, an original design.

Taut, precise, efficient and upscale lines. Purity of outline in tune with the traditions of Italian design. This lively typography is applied to the alphabet to create the identities for the La Terrazza Fiat and NoLita restaurants.

The graphic design, an Urban/Arty style..

The letters in the MotorVillage logotype intertwine, meld and superimpose to create a surprising effect. The black and white are punctuated with bold and absolute colours, evoking the group’s brands.

THE SOUND IDENTITY

The Fiat group promotes the values of elegance, innovation, luxury and modernity, and these are reflected in the sound design and music programming specially developed for MotorVillage.
The musical world of MotorVillage is a special experience, an exclusive sound journey specially created for Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s design environment. Visitors will discover a mix of the best music produced by today’s indie labels. Half contemporary art gallery and half Haute Couture fashion show, the showroom and NoLita restaurant share a sophisticated contemporary musical ambiance. While the showroom pulses to pop, the tempo shifts down to dreamy in the NoLita restaurant. Original mixes and sound signatures weave together Italian voices, Italian film soundtracks and great operatic arias. These mixes emerge inventively from the audio programming, surprising visitors. Once they leave the Rond Point des Champs-Elysees, visitors will find the MV music "on air" at motorvillage.fr.

The Music Agency (TMA) has created the musical and sound design for MotorVillage. Operating across several creative areas, TMA is a 360° musical agency that helps music interact innovatively with brands. Founded by two experienced music industry experts, TMA is in tune with the times, building new harmonies with musicians, composers, labels, designers and contemporary artists. A mix of performers’ label and cultural think-tank , the agency is dedicated to developing an original, fully-integrated musical agenda.

Thierry Planelle is a founding member of Radio Nova. He was artistic director at Virgin France for 10 years, and he is also the director of the soundtracks for Hermès fashion shows. In 2009, he was artistic director for Benjamin Biolay’s new album La Superbe (which went platinum and won a Victoires de la Musique prize in France). He also creates sound environments for international exhibitions (Warhol Live, with the Warhol Foundation, Imagine - The Ballad of John & Yoko with Yoko Ono, the Rencontres d'Arles photography event, etc.).

Frederick Schindler was Audiovisual Assistant for the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Argentina, and then became Managing Director of the Spanish edition of the weekly magazine Les Inrockuptibles. He has produced many concerts and events with world-famous DJs and electro labels. He works as a consultant, programmer and music supervisor for many brands, agencies, production companies and film directors.
In 2010 they created TMA / The Music Agency.

THE
ARTISTS

MotorVillage innovates by presenting three unique video art works commissioned from three artists from Paris' contemporary art scene. This is the first time that artwork has been previewed at an automobile showroom and marks a decisive turning point in the relationship between a multicultural, visionary automobile group and its audience. Taking spectator/consumer beyond a mere passive relationship with the content, the images screened before the visitors to the MotorVillage arouse curiosity and enthusiasm, appeal to the intellect and provide food for thought.

- "You are what you drive", by artist and designer Pippo Lionni, loyal to his world peopled with pictograms, invites the audience to play with his interactive work, influencing in real time the drivers of the six brands presented in the venue.

- The 3D world of Guillaume Paris created for this occasion takes us on a journey to the “New Italy” through a series of images and sensations evoking the cultural origins and diversity of the Fiat Group. With evident references to speed, sophistication, comfort, elegance and modernity, this voyage allows the viewer to enjoy an unprecedented and stimulating experience within the context of the MotorVillage.

-The work by Hugues Reip, designed specifically for a giant LED wall, takes us into the realm of the engine of the future, mixing a liquid element and bubbles of hydrogen that accompany visitors as they rise to the upper levels, which then explodes in concentric waves of colour, which change with each passing hour..

• HUGUES
  REIP
  Reip Hughes was born in 1964. In the 1990s he developed a body of work that navigated between the ordinary and the extraordinary, using drawings, constructions, and various forms of crafts . Deeply inspired by science fiction ideas from the early 20th century, his work is packed with allusions to film and literature. His "Toon" series composed of colourful 2D or 3D imaginary characters is a direct allusion to Japanese manga.
  
  Hugues Reip highlights the absurd, humorous dimension of his works. In recent years, he has been using video and photography and continues to enrich his dream world, encouraging people to question their everyday reality.
  Designed for a giant LED wall, Reip Hughes’ work takes the viewer into a futuristic world of driving. This interactive piece entitled "Bubbleblow" mixes liquid elements and hydrogen bubbles that escort visitors as they rise to the upper floors. When the bubbles (that change colour every hour) reach the top of the screen, they explode in concentric waves, encouraging viewers to wander around in all directions.
• GUILLAUME
  PARIS
  Guillaume Paris was born in Abidjan in 1966. A New York fine arts graduate, he attended the Institut des Hautes Etudes en Arts Plastiques in Paris and completed his education with a degree in anthropology from University College London. He has stayed in numerous artists’ residencies (for example at the Villa Medici in Rome), and has taught and exhibited around the world on a regular basis since 2001.
  
  His work revolves around such complex social phenomena as fetishism, reification, and the exploitation of religious and magical thinking. Everything he does is focused on critiquing the ideologies we live by. Through his wide-ranging analysis, Guillaume Paris examines the ideal of purity that has gradually entered such practices as politics, religion and advertising.
  The 3D world of Guillaume Paris takes us straight to the heart of "New Italy". Mixing images and sounds, his creation generates powerful sensations that take the public on a trip back to the cultural origins and the diversity of the Fiat Group. Based around the idea of speed with elegance and the spirit of Italian innovation, this project offers an exciting new experience to everyone who sees it.
• PIPPO
  LIONNI
  Pippo Lionni is an artist and a graphic designer. Born into a family of architects in New York in 1954, he escaped from his background by studying philosophy and mathematics at the universities of Portland and New York. For a while he was jazz musician and then became a designer in the late 1970s. In 1981 he settled permanently in Paris. He found inspiration from such fields of conceptual expression as signage; stage set design, visual identity and environmental design.
  
  In 1998, he began his reflection on the "Facts of Life, a symbolic language based on humorous icons. Through these universally known and understood pictograms, Pippo Lionni gives us an amusing, contemporary vision of the human condition. The graphic simplicity of this open visual language always spurs readers on to give free rein to their own imaginative constructions. Throughout his career, Pippo Lionni has been keenly interested in research and teaching, he has given many design courses in France and abroad. As well as his exhibitions around the world, Pippo Lionni was named Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001.
  "You are What You Drive". Designer Pippo Lionni confronts us with his universe of symbols as if they were timeless truths. Right from his famous "Facts of Life" project, his interactive work makes the public an integral part of what happens. As they move past the work, viewers influence the movements and speed of his stick figures in real time, making everyone become an artist and a model.
  The interview of Pippo Lionni
  
  By Soblacktie
  The Fiat Group has commissioned you to produce a work/installation for MotorVillage. How have you incorporated the Fiat Group into your work?
  What was your starting point?
  The aim of this project for MotorVillage was not to promote the image of the Fiat Group as if I were making a commercial. This group manufactures and sells vehicles, mobility, travel, and direction. MotorVillage on the other hand is essentially a static place – something that does not move. I have therefore focused my work on the opposition between the two by making the site’s visitors the centre-piece, so they become stakeholders in the work. Although the Fiat Group is not represented figuratively-speaking, it is definitely part of the underlying context.
  I started by thinking about movement, time, and speed, bringing the work and the viewer together in a particular place with all its constraints.
  
  What is the actual project that will be exhibited in MotorVillage?
  It comprises panels which broadcast interactive films made of pictograms from the signage system I have used in my painting for many years. These films interact with the people who pass, watch, or stop in front of these panels. The projection rate slows down or speeds up in time with the people passing by. It is a generic, immersive world because it is universal - anyone can understand these icons, and find meaning in them for the different brands of the Fiat Group.
  When you work with time and distance, movement is always involved somewhere. Do you need to move, or travel, or drive to create your art?
  Yes, I’ve been travelling in one way or another for a very long time now. When I was young I used to hitchhike across the United States and then Europe and Africa. I’ve also travelled by car, sail boat and train. But I probably feel best of all in an airplane, as I can write and develop my ideas in the air. For me, the journey is more important than the artistic result. At the end of a project, I set off again...
  When like me you study philosophy and mathematics, you get interested in movement, time and rhythm. They are the constants, so I find it perfectly natural to think by moving around.
  Where did this interest in signage come from? It plays a key role in your work?
  It is a universal medium that is easy to identify and simple to understand. Viewers can easily identify with what they perceive.
  Which artists do you feel close to?
  Rather than feeling close to artists, I primarily feel immersed in the culture of my artistic family, my education, and the encounters I have had. This may sound strange, but my work has very little to do with any artists who might interest me.
  How do you relate to cars?
  As a child, I remember my father tinkering with the carburettor of his Alfa Romeo on the kitchen table, and later he built a motorcycle in our 4th floor apartment in New York. I had a VW bus and travelled all over the U.S. in it. I even repaired its engine in my living room. But rather than being about owning something, cars for me are (once again) all about moving, driving, setting off to find out what interests me. Cars as objects don’t really interest me, although I can appreciate car design and shapes, especially in vintage cars. And I don’t actually have a car; in Paris I get around by bike.
  As someone with Italian origins, what does the Fiat Group mean for you?
  The cars in the Fiat Group reflect my gut preference for Italian cars. They are more human, more family minded and closer to my life than American cars ever were.
  Which car symbolizes the Fiat Group best for you?
  There are lots of vehicles in the Group that are brand icons, but my real emotions come from movement.
  On a purely aesthetic, physical level, which of the Group’s cars makes the greatest impression on you?
  The cars of the 1950s to 1970s, because of their lines. They had real individual identities. Today, I see too much uniformity; all cars look the same. Style has been democratized, and this standardization has killed off the archetypes. And at the same time, luxury cars and “common" cars are too radically differentiated. One thing surprises me: in the past speed was expressed throughout the design of the body work from front to rear, whereas today all the movement and style is focused on the front of the car.
  Artists are often visionaries. What do you imagine cars in the Fiat group might be like in 40 years time (in 2050)?
  I have a pessimistic vision about cars. I imagine a future with fewer cars. Manufacturers will have to find a way to reinvent themselves and adapt to the changing world so that we can maintain this feeling of individual movement, but in a responsible way.
  Would you like to make an "artcar" with the Fiat group like Jeff Koons or your illustrious predecessors to race in Le Mans in 2011?
  You bet (laughs and smiles all round) and I suggest that Pippo uses a Maserati or Alfa Romeo.
  

FASHION STILE

Andrew Gn was born in Singapore and grew up in the UK. But it was in Paris that his passion flourished. The brand he created, Andrew Gn, has its headquarters in the very trendy Marais district in Paris.

The Andrew Gn brand is known for its graphic, feminine and sophisticated designs and targets women who are seeking quality couture reinvented using modern and structured lines.

Today, more in demand than ever in the fashion world, Andrew Gn leaves his mark on the style adopted for MotorVillage and has created the elegant clothing, with a hint of the avant-garde, for the reception staff.

Style according to Andrew Gn

By Nizzagirl

Fashion has a role to play in creating an exceptional venue, and no detail is too small to be overlooked in developing a top-of the-range Italian spirit. This is why we have paid enormous care and attention to the appearance of the hostesses at MotorVillage.

Andrew Gn, whose reputation for excellence perfectly matches the Fiat Group’s desire to create an exceptional site on the Champs-Elysees, has styled the hostesses’ outfits.

With an eye for precision design and exquisite materials, Andrew Gn has come up with a luxury ready-to-wear wardrobe built on the expert skills of haute couture. With their moiré and silk crepe, crystal application and embroidery, these clothes evoke a world of excellence in craftsmanship and perfect design.

There is nothing uniform-like about these outfits – they are both stylish and baroque. With their embroidery, drapes, highlighted shapes and enhanced femininity, they are the quintessence of Italian elegance.

Andrew Gn’s classics – finely-cut suits and cocktail gowns – form part of the venue’s dress code. The three outfits selected from the Spring-Summer 2010 and Autumn-Winter 2010-2011 collections meld perfectly with the aesthetic agenda of this new corner of Italy in the heart of Paris.