Roberto Giolito

Roberto Giolito (Ancona, 10 November 1962) is an Italian automobiledesigner. Acting as Chief Designer at Fiat,^[1] Giolito is widely known^[2][3] for the Fiat Multipla (1998, exhibited at MoMA, New York), and the 2004 Fiat Trepiùno concept — precursor to the Fiat 500 of 2007, voted Car of the Year in 2008 and World Car Design of the Year 2009.

Born in 1962 in Ancona, Italy, Giolito graduated in industrial design from Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche (Higher Institute for Artistic Industries, ISIA) in Rome in 1985. For four years he worked in graphic, communications and furniture design before joining Fiat in 1989.

In high school Giolito played jazz bass, playing in a high school program with American masters including saxophonist Lee Konitz and playing through design school, earning money on the side by teaching music. Giolito continues to play jazz music, and collects vintage vacuum-tube-powered audio equipment.^[4]

Giolito has received design influence from a range of sources, including Ettore Sottsass’s Olivetti portable electric typewriter; an early Apple II computer with which he designed his home as well as a battery-powered car with Chris Bangle— and architects including le Corbusier and Jean Nouvel.^[4]

In July 1989 Giolito won a position at Fiat, after responding to an advertisement looking for computer-savvy young designers. At the advanced design studio, Giolito penned several concept cars, including the Fiat Downtown (1993), Zic (1994), and Ecobasic (2000).^[5] At Fiat, he has designed experimental electric vehicles, sedans, sports cars (e.g., Maserati) as well as a farm tractor for New Holland.

In 2001, he was nominated to chief director at Fiat S.p.A. and is currently the head of Fiat & Abarth Design. He continues to work on new small models for the company.

En 1998 diseñó el Fiat Multipla , muy comentado y controvertido, que recibió críticas y elogios, y que solo alcanzó un escaso éxito comercial. Fue exhibido en la exposición del MoMA de 1999 «Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century». ^{[ 6 ]} Proclamado «Coche del Año» por la revista Top Gear y durante varios años consecutivos fue galardonado con el premio al «Coche Familiar del Año».

En 2007, Giolito diseñó el Fiat 500 : coche del año en 2008, diseño de coche del año a nivel mundial en 2009 y Compasso d'Oro de diseño industrial en 2011.

Desde 2011 hasta 2015, Giolito fue jefe de diseño del Centro Stile de FCA para las marcas Fiat y Abarth, y también vicepresidente del centro de diseño para el mercado EMEA .

Desde 2016, dirige FCA Heritage , el departamento encargado de salvaguardar, divulgar y promover el legado histórico de las marcas italianas de FCA.

• Concepto Fiat Downtown
• Concepto Fiat Zic
• Fiat Multipla
• Concepto Fiat Ecobasic (como gestor del proyecto) ^{[ 7 ]}
• Concepto Fiat Trepiùno
• Fiat 500 (2007)
• Fiat 500L
• Fiat Panda (2011 - actualidad)
• Fiat Palio (2011)
• Fiat Ottimo ^{[ 8 ]}
• Abarth Classiche 1000 SP

• Diseñador del año 2009