Casa 500 – Virtual Museum

Designing an exhibition space that tells the story of Fiat 500 and shows industrial, design and marketing Italian skills, means telling the story of more than 60 years of Italy. The success of Fiat 500 is closely linked to its natural ability in communicating. From 1957, date of first model that introduces the new concept of city car, passing through the new 2007’s model that consecrates 500 as a globally pop icon, up to the 2020’s model as a response to the new energy awareness and environmental sensitivity. Fiat 500 communicates always its close link with a specific historical period in which it was conceived.

The space of Casa 500, housed on the 4th floor of Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and that overlooks the historic Lingotto’s test track, tells the whole hidden world behind Fiat 500 projects with videos, installations and interactive objects. The space is designed to be as free as possible using walls and floor as an exhibition element. This allows an open view of museum area and highlights its relationship with the outdoor spaces of the track.

The visitor is involved in a free exhibition path where his interaction is always required. In the middle is positioned the “Mascherone”, a wooden feedback master for sheet metal, model of the first 500, this is surrounded by transparent mobile screens that allow, once moved by visitors, an overlap between contents transmitted in them and the original rear mask. In this way the visitor’s action allows to reveal the evolution of this product and its unique link between memory and technology.