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About
Michael Robinson
One of the 12 designers selected in 2011 for the Italian Car Designer Hall of Fame in the National Automobile Museum Torino (MAUTO).
in 2021 the renowned British magazine Magneto listed Michael as number 31 out of the top 50 all-time car designers in the world. He is honored to be included in same group with living design legends like Giorgetto Giugiaro, Marcello Gandini, Leonardo Fioravanti,and past design legends like Franco Scaglione, Harley Earl, and Bill Mitchell.
Michael is a multifaceted designer, visionary leader, futurist, change agent, executive creative director, employee motivator, talent builder, one of the founding fathers of the autonomous car, journalist author, keynote speaker, professor, painter, and sculptor.
Michael is a well-known American car designer who has lived in Torino, Italy for the past 43 years. His passion for car design started very early, when at age 16, in Seattle Washington, USA, he discovered Italian car design thanks to a magazine poster of the 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero designed by Marcello Gandini in Bertone. From that point on he has been following his dreams. He played on the nationally acclaimed University of Washington basketball team, and immigrated to Torino, Italy the day after graduating. In his 43 year career in Italy he was the Design Director at both Lancia and Bertone,
Born in Los Angeles in 1956, Robinson graduated from the University of Washington in 1978 (Fine Arts) won a summer internship at the Ford Design Center in Dearborn, Michigan. He then returned to the University of Washington to complete his degree in Industrial Design in 1979, and emigrated to Torino, Italy the day after graduation.
A few highlights of Robinson's career:
Design Director Lancia 1996
Design Director Fiat 2001
Design Director Bertone 2009
Design Director ED Design 2014
Opened ROBINSONDESIGN 2021
In the past 42 years in Italy Robinson has designed mostly cars, but also:
Trucks, Buses, Motorcycles, Bicycles, High Speed Trains, Yachts, Hydrofoils, Jets, eVTOLs, -Furniture, Kitchens, Hotel Interiors, Skyscrapers, Train Stations, Fashion, Science Fiction Films.
A well-known futurist, Robinson has been anticipating future trends for decades, subsequently finding his discoveries in mainstream applications 10, 15, even 20 years later, Michael is a highly requested key-note speaker around the world addressing many different subjects, including car design, bio design (learning from nature), circular design (saving mother earth), advanced design, advanced materials, and advanced technology (predicting the future by inventing it),
Michael is a charismatic communicator and a highly requested opinion leader with many interviews, international conferences, TV talk shows, car show presentations, university keynotes, etc.
"The Road to Revolution" video Quattroruote 2016 (in Italian)
Michael also has a wide experience as a design journalist, with monthly two-page sketch articles for Quattroruote, the leading automotive magazine in Italy. The first series was a visual design analysis of new cars on the market (2006-2007) and the second series explaining advanced technology in the automobile industry (2016-2017) See examples on the following pages:
Robinson co-authored two books:
"Car Men No. 9, Centro Stile Lancia" written together with Daniele Cornil in 2001
"The Bertone Collection", written together with Gautam Sen in 2018
https://www.amazon.com/Bertone-Collection-Robinson-Makarand-photographer/dp/1854432931
Links
Wikipedia English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vernon_Robinson
Wikipedia Italian: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Robinson_(designer)
Awards
- AHS Groover Bell Most Innovative Helicopter Award (USA) 2014
Issued by American Helicopter Society
- Associated with Bertone
- American Helicopter Museum Achievement Award (USA) 2014
Issued by The American Helicopter Museum & Education Center
- Associated with Bertone
- FAW Supplier of the Year Award (China) 2014
Issued by FAW
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Associated with Bertone
-Inducted into the National Italian Car Designer Hall of Fame (Italy) 2011
Issued by MAUTO the Italian National Automobile Museum in Torino, Italy
- Associated with Bertone
- European Automotive Design Award - Lancia Ypsilon (Brusselles) 2004
Issued by Designers' (Europe)
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Associated with Fiat Auto
- Golden Steering Wheel Award - Lancia Lybra (Berlin, Germany) 1999
Issued by Bild am Sonntag', Europe's biggest selling Sunday weekly magazine
- Associated with Fiat Auto
- European Car of the Year Award - Fiat Bravo/Brava (Spain) 1996
Issued by European Car of the Year Award
- Associated with Fiat Auto
Clients
As Design Director at Bertone and ED Design, Robinson has developed important projects for many major OEMs in Europe and China over the past 13 years.
