Alfa drives exhibition at Science Museum

The Science Museum’s flagship winter exhibition, Alfa Romeo – Sustaining Beauty, hits the road on 1 December, designed by Paolo Ferrari.

It is the first exhibition at the museum after it goes free on 1 December, and will feature a £50m collection of classic Alfa Romeo cars alongside period advertising, technical blueprints and open engines.

The show, which runs until 30 April 2002, is designed to trace the history of car design from the first decades of the 20th century to the present day.

It will be a ‘3D design history of Alfa Romeo’, says Science Museum head of exhibitions: collections Andrew Nahum. The exhibition space is designed to look like an art gallery, but will highlight the technical aspects of car design with original drawings and detailed text, he adds.

Alfa Romeo as a brand was chosen as it combines high quality design with a strong engineering element, Nahum adds.

Sustaining Beauty will also examine the design processes at Alfa Romeo’s studio in Arese, near Milan, which is headed by Wolfgang Egger, including selected blueprints, ‘to illustrate the design process, spirit and philosophy’ of the brand, says exhibition co-ordinator Fiona Bashford.

Some 17 of Alfa Romeo’s most famous, prestigious cars are being shipped to the museum from the Alfa Romeo Museum, which is near Milan, Bashford adds.