MILAN – Welcome to the future of the car under the banner of technology and the reduction of environmental impact. An overview of what awaits us in the automotive sector and beyond, comes from the Audi House of Progress, which will open its doors at the Portrait Milano spaces (corso Venezia, 11, from 17 to 23 April) at the Design Weel. Visitors will be welcomed in the hub of the house with the four rings where design, research and innovation take shape, offering the Fuorisalone audience the opportunity to take a journey into the circular economy to discover the Audi values that guide the brand’s path towards carbon neutrality.
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For the occasion, the square of the Quadrilatero was transformed into an evocative exhibition space, with the installation “The Domino Act” by designer Gabriele Chiave with Controvento which will welcome the Skysphere concept car. The futuristic full electric roadster with variable wheelbase is presented in a national preview to the Italian public, embodying how technological progress and emotion can arise from a totally sustainable approach based on the circular economy.
“The installation takes up the concept of circularity which is the basis of Audi progress – they explain at the headquarters – Artistic reinterpretation of the concept of sustainability through that of the “domino” and synthesis of the Audi approach to the future of mobility, “The Domino Act” underlines how the decision in a strategic area can trigger a virtuous process impacting on others”. Sustainability is a process undertaken by the brand which plans to extend carbon neutral production from the current 4 production sites to all plants by 2025 and to expand the full electric range with more than 10 new models over the next 3 years. A strategy that at the Audi House of Progress is able to excite thanks to the interaction made possible by the tactile displays integrated in the installation, for an immersive representation of the circular economy of the Ingolstadt house.
For the brand with the four rings, progress goes beyond the launch of new full electric cars since Audi was among the first manufacturers to join the Paris agreement on climate change, adopting numerous initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions, aiming for a carbon neutral balance of all its activities by 2050. In this sense, the “Audi Mission:Zero” program focuses on the decarbonisation of the entire production chain, on the development of the closed cycle for aluminium, steel, water and plastics, and in reducing water requirements to a minimum by making the most of rainwater storage and extending the closed water cycle to all production sites.
Audi continues to make the production sites carbon neutral and already in 2018 the Brussels plant where the e-tron range is produced obtained carbon neutral certification thanks to the use of green energy obtained from renewable sources and the installation of a photovoltaic system of 107,000 sq m. Now the focus is on the closed life cycle of raw and secondary materials, promoting the development of sustainable products and the creation of closed cycles. Through the models exhibited at the House of Progress, Audi therefore demonstrates to the public, with practical examples, its commitment to saving resources, conserving and recycling materials throughout the product cycle.
Saving resources also focuses on the closed cycle of used parts, to extend the life cycle of the selected components before sending them to the recycling process. For example, each electric motor is examined individually, with the aim of reusing as many parts as possible. In short, the Audi House of Progress offers the public a narrative journey into the new regenerative processes of the house with the four rings. (Maurilio Rigo)