Qatar Auto Museum is proud to present Ultraleggera: A Design Journey with Marcello Gandini Between Italy and Qatar, an exhibition co-produced by the future Qatar Auto Museum (QAM), the MAUTO – Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin, Italy, and VCUarts Qatar. The exhibition originates from the vision and tenacity of VCUarts Qatar Associate Professor Simone Carena, who in 2022 successfully convinced Marcello Gandini to embark on his first-ever masterclass project in collaboration with QAM and VCUarts Qatar.
The exhibition was unveiled by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, in the attendance of Mohammed Saad Al Rumaihi, CEO, Qatar Museums, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Thani, Director of National Museum of Qatar, His Excellency Paolo Toschi, Ambassador of Italy to the State of Qatar and Alberto Cirio, President of the Piedmont Region and Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin.
The exhibition is the result of the Marcello Gandini Masterclass Project Moving Interiors with Marcello Gandini, a collaboration between QAM and VCUarts Qatar. Inspired by Gandini’s groundbreaking legacy, this initiative allows students to deeply engage with his design philosophies. Gandini (1938-2024) is known as the inventor of the supercar, and his iconic designs (including the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, Diablo, and Lancia Stratos) continue to influence the automotive world. The exhibition is a tribute to his profound impact on design, showcasing key elements of his legacy that span his illustrious career.
As project leader and art director, Professor Carena also serves as co-curator of the exhibition, alongside Marzia Gandini, daughter of Marcello Gandini and Founder of Think PR. The exhibition contents are co-developed by the curators and Gautam Sen, author of the latest monograph on Gandini’s design legacy. Celebrating the groundbreaking principles of one of the automotive world’s most influential figures, Ultraleggera centers on Gandini’s revolutionary lightweight design philosophy. The exhibition will debut at the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) from 22 April to 2 June 2025, before travelling to MAUTO in Turin from 19 June to 31 August 2025.
H.E. Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber, President of Qatar Auto Museum, said, “Marcello Gandini’s work is a defining part of automotive design history, and this exhibition is a powerful opportunity to honor his legacy. By pairing his iconic creations with the innovative work of VCUarts Qatar students, a meaningful dialogue has been created between past and present, Italy and Qatar. It’s a celebration of Gandini’s influence, and a chance to showcase the fresh perspectives of emerging local designers.”
Benedetto Camerana, President of Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile said: “As Chairman of MAUTO, I am deeply pleased to give a vibrant start to our long-term international collaboration with the Qatar Automobile Museum. Our first joint program is this important exhibition dedicated to Marcello Gandini, to his vision and legacy, promoting young people's creative energy. Both the Marcello Gandini Masterclass Project, promoted by QAM with VCUarts students, and the MAUTO Summer School to be held in June in Turin, in deep collaboration with Torino Polytechnics and Marcello Gandini Studio, focus on the power of young design as a creative process capable of building bridges between generations and cultures".
The showcase integrates important models, sketches, and prototypes on loan from Gandini’s studio, offering a rare glimpse into the evolution of his visionary work. With “movement” as a key theme—both as a design element and a symbol of cultural exchange—the exhibition challenges spatial, cultural, and creative boundaries, offering visitors a dynamic, thought-provoking experience.
On view are experimental works created by VCUarts Qatar students through the Moving Interiors With Marcello Gandini Masterclass, with a special focus on 3D-printed “moving interior” installations and models that reflect their interpretations of Gandini’s design philosophies. By blending Gandini’s influential legacy with fresh perspectives from Qatar’s rising designers, the exhibition creates an immersive fusion of past and future.
“This exhibition represents a significant milestone in our commitment to nurturing creative innovation and cross-cultural exchange in partnership with Qatar Museums. By bringing together Marcello Gandini's pioneering design legacy with the fresh perspectives of our talented students, we are creating a multi-layered experience that reveals and celebrates Gandini’s innovative design principles,” said Amir Berbić, Dean, Virginia Commonwealth School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar).
Open to the public as part of Qatar Creates 2025 and developed with resources from QAM, MAUTO, and VCUarts Qatar, this initiative also marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between QAM and MAUTO – Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile reinforcing the strength of design as a universal language. Following its presentation in Doha, the exhibition will travel to MAUTO in summer 2025 where it will be accompanied by the first Summer School on car design, organised in collaboration with Turin Polytechnic and Marcello Gandini Studio. As part of the Qatar Creates programming, a talk that took place on 22 April entitled Driving Urban Futures: The Role of Cultural Industries in Shaping Cities, explored how cities can build thriving cultural ecosystems through strategic investment, institutional collaboration, and cultural tourism. The talk is moderated by Jelena Trkulja, Senior Advisor for Academic and Cultural Affairs, QM and with the participation of Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin, Benedetto Camerana, President, MAUTO Museum and a prominent architect and Irina Bokova, Former Director General, UNESCO.
For more information about the exhibition, please visit https://nmoq.org.qa/en/calendar/ultraleggera-a-design-journey-with-marcello-gandini/
About Moving Interiors Masterclass and Ultraleggera
In 2021, VCUarts Qatar Associate Professor Simone Carena found the courage to share an unconventional idea with Marcello Gandini: to reimagine the iconic Lamborghini Countach as a Korean paper kite, in celebration of the supercar’s 50th anniversary for the Gwangju Design Biennale in South Korea. To his surprise, the legendary designer responded with enthusiasm, calling it a “bellissima idea.”
A year later, Carena moved to Qatar and brought part of that kite with him; an unfinished symbol of flight and transformation. Inspired by the cultural vision of Qatar Foundation, the support of VCUarts Qatar, and the future promise of the Qatar Auto Museum (QAM), Carena began planting the seeds of a new project. What if a vehicle could cross not just physical distances, but cultural, generational, and disciplinary boundaries? A shuttle between Qatar and Italy, Doha and Turin, design and mobility, students and masters?
The person able to design such a visionary and beautiful vehicle had to be Marcello Gandini. The first meeting with the maestro happened in September 2022. The kite became a Masterclass, announced at the Doha edition of Geneva International Motor Show in October 2023 with a video trailer called “Marcello Gandini (Almost) in Qatar.” The four lectures of the masterclass “Moving Interiors with Marcello Gandini” were filmed in Almese in December 2023 and January 2024 during the Honorary Mechanical Engineering Degree awarded to Marcello Gandini by the Politecnico di Torino. The name “Moving Interiors” suggests the possibility of expanding content beyond conventional boundaries, inviting our interior design students to open windows, engage views, and let nature in.
Supported by the Qatar Auto Museum and developed in close collaboration with QAM and VCUarts Qatar, the masterclass preserves and shares Gandini’s design philosophy, offering students and audiences in Qatar and beyond a unique lens into the future of mobility.
On March 13, 2024, Marcello Gandini suddenly passed away. In 2025, the Masterclass becomes Ultraleggera: a fleet of light vessels that carry samples of Gandini’s innovations together with his latest students’ works. The sails, impressed with drawings and images of supercars, catch the wind to power the journey. The design of Ultraleggera wishes to apply what was learned during the interactions with Marcello Gandini. A capsule designed by Carena, but fabricated with the students in the VCUarts Labs.
It is modular, easy to deploy, pack, and ship, combining machine fabrication and handcraft. The hulls unfold with bonnets and doors inspired by Gandini’s supercars, revealing models and treasures. Leftover fabric from the sails is patched to form a blueprint for the Countach Flying Carpet, a new version of the kite to be completed in the near future by Qatari artists.
Simone Carena is grateful for the support of all brave and visionary individuals, families, authorities, and institutions (including the Qatar Auto Museum) who joined this moving journey with Marcello Gandini. As for the kite, Ultraleggera wishes to evolve and exchange goods in all welcoming harbors that will allow docking.
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About Qatar Museums
Qatar Museums (QM), the nation's preeminent institution for art and culture, provides authentic and inspiring cultural experiences through a growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art installations, and programmes. QM preserves, restores, and expands the nation's cultural offerings and historical sites, sharing art and culture from Qatar, the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region with the world and enriching the lives of citizens, residents, and visitors.
Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and led by its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QM has made Qatar a vibrant centre for the arts, culture, and education in the Middle East and beyond. QM is integral to the goal of developing an innovative, diverse, and progressive nation, bringing people together to ignite new thinking, spark critical cultural conversations, educate, and encourage environmental stewardship and sustainable practices, and amplify the voices of Qatar's people. Since its founding in 2005, QM has overseen the Museum of Islamic Art and MIA Park, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Qatar, QM Gallery Al Riwaq, QM Gallery Katara, 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, and Dadu, Children's Museum of Qatar.
Through its newly created Creative Hub, QM also initiates and supports projects—such as the Fire Station Artist in Residence, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival and the creative hub for innovation, fashion, and design M7—that nurture artistic talent and create opportunities to build a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure.
Animating everything that Qatar Museums does is an authentic connection to Qatar and its heritage, a steadfast commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, and a belief in creating value through invention. For more information visit https://qm.org.qa.
About Qatar Auto Museum
Conceived at the end of the oil age, the Qatar Auto Museum will be an engine that drives design, research, inspiration, and innovation in new forms of mobility. The Museum aims to bring together enthusiasts, collectors, designers, policymakers, students, and engineers with permanent and temporary exhibitions and global events to learn about the history of the car and shape the ways we will move in the future. Through its partnerships with educational and tourism sectors, car manufacturers, and community organizations, the Qatar Auto Museum will instigate collaborative investment in the creative economy. H.E. Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber is its president and Dr. Alkindi Aljawabra serves as director.
About National Museum of Qatar
The National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) preserves and celebrates the history of Qatar. It engages with its present and inspires the country's ambitions for the future. The Museum, which opened in March 2019, gives voice to the country's culture and heritage through artefacts, oral histories, music, films, and artworks. The NMoQ takes the visitor on an immersive and multisensory journey of its 1.5 km thematic and chronological galleries. The iconic building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, is inspired by the desert rose and comprises of large interlocking disks of different diameters and curvatures that surround the restored historic palace of the late Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, ruler of Qatar (1880 – 1957). Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Thani serves as director.
About Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile
Founded in 1933 by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile preserves a collection of over 200 original cars from 80 different brands that show the historical evolution of the invention that changed the world: from the steam carriages of the late nineteenth century to the design masterpieces of the 1950s, from the protagonists of epic races and memorable journeys to the prototypes that have guided future directions of research. The spectacular scenic setting contextualizes each individual car, creating a story that accompanies the visitor as they discover historical, cultural and social movements, technological achievements and scientific discoveries that the car has crossed and influenced, in a constant thrust for innovation. To complete the museum itinerary, the Documentation Centre carries out archiving and research activities together with the Conservation and Restoration Centre, which carries out daily conservation and restoration activities of historic vehicles. Chaired by architect Benedetto Camerana and directed by Lorenza Bravetta, the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile – whose members are the Piedmont Region, the City of Turin, ACI – Automobile Club Italia, and Stellantis – closed 2024 with nearly 400,000 visitors. For more information visit www.museoauto.com
About Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar
Established in 1998 through a partnership with Qatar Foundation, VCUarts Qatar is the international branch campus of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, a top-ranked art and design school in Richmond, Virginia in the United States. VCUarts Qatar has enjoyed a fruitful 25-year alliance between VCU and Qatar Foundation that underscores the commitment of each institution to excellence, inquiry, discovery and innovation in a global setting.
VCUarts Qatar offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in kinetic imaging, graphic design, interior design, and painting and printmaking, a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in design. A vibrant community with global reach, VCUarts Qatar promises to instill in students a lifelong passion for education and the arts.
VCUarts Qatar offers valuable opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and connects our home campus in Richmond to the influential art and design world of the Middle East and beyond. The Qatar-based campus attracts renowned contributors to contemporary visual culture for speaking and teaching engagements, and hosts two major international events: Tasmeem Doha, a biennial art and design conference; and the biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Islamic Art Symposium.
Media: Please contact Kathryn London-Penny, Executive Director of Strategic Communications at londonpeks@vcu.edu.
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