Grande designs
FOR A CITY that’s the self-proclaimed European capital of design and style, let’s just say that Milan doesn’t make its core attributes immediately evident. In the streets that feed out from the Stazione Centrale, Italy’s busiest (and presumably vision-impaired) graffiti bandit has barely left a wall or shopfront untagged. Dusty retail windows attempt to off-load random tatt, and the bins overflow into the gutters.
Sure, there’s a rich history of high-end labels and billion-dollar brands here, but you have to go looking for them.
Our journey takes us 20 minutes north-west to the suburb of Rho, but even here, Italy’s pre-eminent carrozzeria of automotive rebodying, currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, doesn’t instantly dazzle you with a glitzy marble and glass facade or elegant water features. Instead, you’ll find Zagato down a slightly scruffy back lane past a porcelain tile importer.
But when you turn past the reception area into the main atrium, all that is instantly forgotten. The sight of a handful of the company’s more significant models arrests your attention, various double-bubble roofs, sensual curves and voluptuous forms catching the morning light that filters through the glass ceiling that soars above the loft-style gangway.
Andrea Zagato, grandson of founder Ugo, bounds up to meet us, a slightly rumpled bundle of energy and enthusiasm. He quickly apologises for the somewhat underwhelming building entrance. “The local council recently approved our application to reconfigure the access road,” he explains in accented but excellent English. “The next time you visit, you will arrive down Zagato Lane, and straight into a
