We caught up with Horacio Pagani, founder and CEO of Pagani Automobili, at the grand opening of its new Wan Chai showroom done by local firm Starz Pasha.
Capturing a portrait of Horacio Pagani that reflects the essence of the brand’s latest showroom is no easy feat. Situated on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, this 2,135 square-foot space is all about details – cabinets sheathed in supple leather; floors adorned with sleek carbon fibre; and armchairs featuring impeccably refined stitching and finishes.
Yet, Pagani wasn’t concerned about posing for a perfect portrait. His attention was firmly set on the Pagani logo plate suspended proudly from the ceiling, as he discussed potential adjustments to the colour of two slender supporting beams with his team.
Such a hands-on approach may seem unexpected for the CEO of one of the world’s leading supercar brands, but it is typical among those who know him well.
“He was very hands-on from the get-go,” said Maggie Mo, co-founder of Starz Pasha. “He even made visits to the showroom during its construction. It was quite remarkable.”
A self-made automobile engineer and entrepreneur with a deep admiration for Leonardo da Vinci, Pagani is a renowned figure in the car world for at least two iconic models – the Zonda and Huayra.
His career began at Lamborghini, where he designed the renowned Countach Evoluzione, a testbed for new technologies and materials such as carbon fibre. In 1991, he started his own consultancy Modena Design, focusing on carbon fibre composite manufacturing for Formula One cars. Seven years later, he founded Pagani Automobili in Modena in 1998.
His rise to prominence has come through a steadfast commitment to merging art and science with an acute attention to detail. This philosophy not only shapes his acclaimed supercars, but also extends to his ventures in furniture and aerospace, including private jets and helicopters.
At this cosy and inviting showroom, we discussed the new interior design, his expanding furniture line, his alternative career path, and his enduring passion for innovation and design after all these years.
How does this new showroom reflect Pagani Automobili’s DNA?
If you look at this space, you can see a lot of Pagani’s DNA. From the materials, such as the leather that defines our cars, to the bricks, which are very Italian, warm, and used inside our factory and flagship facilities. There are Italian marbles and our signature carbon fibre inserted in little squares on the flooring.
One of the feature walls is designed as a window, as if you can see your car parked outside in your garden. We are very happy with the outcome, so we plan to deploy this concept in our showrooms around the world. This is the first time this concept has been employed in a Pagani showroom.
You mentioned that “a passion for cars is also a passion for art”. How has growing up in a family steeped in art shaped who you are today?
It all began with my childhood in Argentina. I have a passion for craftsmanship – arts that are crafted by hand. I have an artistic feeling inside me, the beauty of creativity. I came across a magazine when I was 15, where I read about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, who focused on bringing together art and science. This triggered something in me. From then on, instead of deciding I must be an engineer or a designer, I thought, why not both? This is the cradle of Pagani’s DNA today.
How do you incorporate da Vinci's ideas into your designs and day-to-day operations?
At Pagani, we've created an open space where all professionals, including engineers and designers, can work hand in hand in the same environment. They can quickly exchange ideas and influence each other with their skills. This embodies our interpretation of how art and science come together.
What does it take, apart from aesthetics, for a car to be defined as “beautiful”?
A beautiful car should be able to stimulate your five senses right away – something that, when put in front of you, wakes up all your senses.
Can you walk us through your furniture line?
If you look at the approach we take for automotive, a large amount of resources, budget, time, and people go into the cars, with the majority of the time spent looking at the car from the inside and improving every element you can. The same applies to furniture. They are all original designs, and carry a resemblance of our design language.
However, it's not that obvious as an automotive brand if you look at the chairs, for example. They don’t look like racing car seats. This is a very beautiful shape for home design or interior design. So, the transition from automotive into the furniture collection is more about the technique and the approach of how we develop these elements.
For example, the frame for the armchair is made of carbon fibre, which is a process to bake the carbon fibre and make it stiff enough for a car. Inside, it's reinforced by aluminium bars. This allows a very thin profile, great resistance, and of course, a very nice look and feel.
Combined with the technical side and the quality of the feel, are, of course, the materials, which are also brought from the cars into the furniture – the leather, for example, is pretty much the same as those you find inside our road car models.
I’m aware you have a new residential development in the pipeline. Can you tell us more about it? This project is called the Da Vinci Tower, which is targeted to be completed by the end of this year. The Tower is a very large design building where Pagani was hired to design all the common areas inside the building. Inside, there are several apartments where you can have Pagani designers design your apartments.
What is true innovation to you?
Two aspects. From the aesthetic front, you have to always come up with interesting designs, new ideas, new lines, new visual concepts. On the engineering side, we're looking for new technologies aimed for high performance.
So, there's a whole lot of work for safety, quality, engineering calculation, methodology, budget, investment, and hiring the right people for the right job. We account for the highest percentage investing in R&D compared to other parties in the industry.
What would you be if not an automotive engineer?
A musician. I was like a solo musician before. In the early stages, resources were limited, and I was on my own. Now, after forming a brand, I've become the director of an orchestra.
What's next for Pagani?
The future is very exciting. For the automotive part, we have long-term plans up to 2030 to launch the next car models. We have some very interesting new cars coming.
For the non-automotive part, a division called Pagani Arte – besides the Da Vinci Tower – there’s a very big residential tower in Miami, comprising 70 units, which is on a much larger scale compared to the Dubai one.
We are also working in aviation. There are a lot of crossover projects with helicopter companies. We design the interior and enhance some of the characteristics.
We also work with private jets, bringing our materials into aviation to improve the weight of the airplanes, which can translate into several benefits such as fuel-saving and long-range performances.
For furniture design, we will have a custom-made programme targeting premium clientele. Our home items are integrated with carbon fibre. The same people who manufacture the cars also manufacture these carbon fibre elements.