VIBRAZIONI ART DESIGN

Vibrazioni Art Design

The story of a unique Italian design atelier and the Porsche that serves as its muse.

Born and raised in a small town, Alberto of Vibrazioni Art Design found out early on that wheels and engines were a way to break free: after school, he would hop on his first moped to ride across the countryside and into the nearest city with his friends. Distances that had always been out of reach suddenly tasted like freedom to the young boy.

As the years went by, the moped became a motorbike, until he eventually immersed himself fully into the world of cars. Coming from a two wheeled background, his preference naturally leaned towards light and fun cars: cycling through an MX-5 and a Lotus Elise over the years.

As time went by however, he began developing a passion for classic cars, and started dreaming of someday owning a Porsche 911. The right occasion came by when he and his partner Ilenia were about to celebrate their 10th anniversary, and decided to seal their love and shared passion for cars by buying one together.

Their search was not a long one: as if driven by fate, they found a 3.0 SC delivered new to Germany in September 1981 - Alberto’s birth month. Moreover, the car had already been updated with details including a ducktail, a Momo Protoripo steering wheel and racing pedals, all elements that were very much in line with the couple’s vision for the car.

Bringing together Alberto’s artistic soul and Ilenia’s experience in graphics and wrapping, they added their personal touch to the car, preserving its soul while shaping it into their dream project. A bright livery now highlights the 911’s timeless lines with pops of colour, while subtle details like the dash and rear grille have been redone in the signature style of Vibrazioni Art Design, Alberto’s creative atelier.

And although the customisation is still not finished - and might never be, as every bit of update comes by very spontaneously - Alberto and Ilenia have exactly what they dreamed of: a shared canvas where their creativity can roam free and their passion for art, design and engines can bloom.

Since high school, Alberto has been animated by two interests: mechanics and pop art - the first informed by his love for engines, the second instead by his attendance of the Art Institute in Faenza, a city renowned for its fine hand-painted ceramics. To him, however, these two worlds - one technical and rigorous, the other instinctive and creative, seemed pretty far apart.

Then, by complete chance, he stumbled into something that brought the two universes together, sparking a passion that still fuels him: in his grandparent’s backyard, lying under a pile of garbage, was an old oil can, still showing its bold graphics despite the rust and dents.

The customisation is still not finished - and might never be, as every bit of update comes by very spontaneously.

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What started out as a passion project in an old barn has now evolved into a fully baked design atelier, with commissions flocking in from all over Italy and beyond.

It was a moment of realisation: with their colourful designs and metal bodies, oil cans were an ideal common ground where his passions could go hand in hand - that’s when he began experimenting, upcycling old cans into furniture pieces made unique by their graphics and debuting a small collection of chairs at Fuorisalone in 2007.

The positive feedback encouraged Alberto to keep following this path, refining the meticulous process required to unwrap, even out, cut and weld metal while preserving the original prints. What started out as a passion project in an old barn has now evolved into a fully baked design atelier, with commissions flocking in from all over Italy and beyond.

The objects he creates are extremely refined, but still clearly show the provenance of the metal: great care is put into selecting and cutting cans in order to achieve the best possible result. And while he mostly creates furniture, Alberto has ventured into the world of two and four wheels several times - as proved by the dash of the 911, or the Mad Max-meets-Andy Warhol moped parked inside his home.

And as the customisation of his very own 3.0 SC goes on, his dream of recreating an entire body shell with reclaimed oil cans might one day come true…