Pininfarina Announces Global Design Contest Winners

Italian vehicle designer Pininfarina has announced the winners of its 2024/2025 Global Design Contest during a special award ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Cambiano, Italy, as part of Pistons & Pretzels, a celebration of automotive culture. The international competition, themed “Materiality, the Umami of Mobility”, invited final-year students from leading design schools around the world to envision "future living and transportation through the lens of innovative and emotionally resonant material use."

Chosen from hundreds of submissions, eight finalists presented projects that reflected the contest's core values of sustainability, sensorial richness, accessibility, and design enchantment. Their work spanned vehicles, systems, and spaces, all centered around the "tactile, emotional, and transformative potential of materials in shaping future mobility experiences," the company said. Finalists represented a diverse set of top design schools, including the National Institute of Design (India), Strate School of Design (France), IAAD (Italy), and Hongik University (South Korea).

Hosted by Felix Kilbertus, Chief Creative Officer at Pininfarina and contest moderator, the event featured virtual greetings from Pininfarina Shanghai and the jury, including Anne Asensio (Vice President, Design Innovation & Experience, Dassault Systèmes), Rossella Guasco (Head of CMF Design for Stellantis brands), and Peter Stevens (automotive designer), who evaluated the entries alongside Pininfarina’s design team.

Award Winners:

• Saikhom Krishnakanta Singh (National Institute of Design, India)
  Project: Deo
  “For its poetic integration of cultural heritage, sustainable vision, and innovative materials that create a profound human connection to mobility.”
• Wang Haoyu (Strate, France)
  Project: Botanist
  “A visionary approach combining nature-inspired materials and systems with a clear user-centric design language.”
• Ankita Anand (National Institute of Design, India)
  Project: Innaphi
  “For its elegant fusion of softness, flexibility, and cultural narrative, offering a new sensory dimension to urban transport.”
• Special Mention – Jin Woo Choi (IAAD, Italy)
  Project: Inne
  “A commendable exploration of spatial and material minimalism, wrapped in calm and contemplative aesthetics.”

All winners will receive a professional internship at Pininfarina design centers in Italy or China, offering them the opportunity to continue their growth alongside some of the world’s most innovative design minds.

“This contest is about cultivating a new generation of designers who understand that materials are not just a medium, but a message,” Kilbertus said. “It’s about designing not only for efficiency and function but also for meaning and emotion, just like the ‘umami’ in food, materials have the power to elevate the design experience in ways that are deeply human.”