“The Origins of the Myth” is the first exhibition scheduled for display when  the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari opens to the public on March 10. The museum complex  is dedicated to Enzo Ferrari and motorsport in Ferrari’s hometown of Modena,  Italy.

But celebrations in Modena will begin nearly a month earlier, marking the  birth of the great car builder on Feb. 18. Ferrari  was born in 1898 and died in 1988.

“It is with great satisfaction and enthusiasm that, after years of intense work by the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari, we are on the point of inaugurating this important cultural asset, that will tell the world the story of this great figure and the vocation for motoring of this area,” says Mauro Tedeschini,  president of the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari.

The museum started from the restoration of the house in which Enzo Ferrari  was born in Modena, and that has preserved through the years to both the living quarters and the workshop. To this was added a new building in the form of the  now famous yellow aluminum “bonnet” whose color is the symbol of the city of  Modena and the color chosen by Enzo Ferrari as the background to the Prancing  Horse, the trademark of the company that bears his name.

“The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari represents the final addition to the tourist attractions in this area related to motoring,” said Adriana Zini, general  secretary of the Fondazione, “and will become a cult place for motoring enthusiasts and a major destination for cultural and industrial tourism. For the  city of Modena it will be an international icon. Together with the Ferrari  Museum at Maranello, with which it will operate in synergy, and with other important motoring assets in the area such as the Marzaglia motor-racing circuit  and the Righini, Panini and Stanguellini Collections, it will fully meet the  expectations of visitors from all over the world.”

The exhibition is dedicated to the story of Ferrari the man, the driver and the constructor, placed in the context of the 1900s and the era which saw him as an undisputed star in motorsport, with its cast of actors, its places and the  competitions that characterized the events of his life–from the street circuit of Modena to motor-racing circuits around the world to the Mille Miglia; from  Scaglietti, Fantuzzi, Stanguellini to Maserati, Pagani, De Tomaso, Lamborghini as well as Alfa Romeo.

In his birthplace there is a permanent multimedia display which retraces the important events in Ferrari’s life. He believed that “if you can dream it, you can do it,” and Ferrari saw the car as a work of art. He considered racing as a testing ground for the continuous development and improvement of technology and the reaching of perfection. Passion and creativity, research, innovation, courage and challenges–these are the key words that emerge from the life of Enzo Ferrari and that are at the root of the myth who made Modena and Maranello capitals of a dream come true.

The stars of the exhibition in the new gallery will be the cars themselves,  representatives of the great Italian names from the most prestigious collections and museums, exhibited as works of art. The vehicles will be surrounded by  showcases containing historic documents, objects and memorabilia, with the  contribution of original audio-visual footage that reconstructs the identity of  Motor Valley-Emilia Romagna.

The museum itself is a prestigious work of contemporary architecture designed  by Future Systems of London, formerly headed by the great architect Jan Kaplicky (he died 2009). The interior design and museum layout were under the supervision  of architect Andrea Morgante of Shiro Studio, codesigner of the project.

The museum is located close to the historic city center of Modena and the  Maserati plant, in the area outside the city walls that was the first in Modena to be developed and where, close to the railway, the first large industrial complexes were built.

The museum has 54,000 square feet of floor space including a teaching room  with a digital archive, a conference room, a projection room, a shop and a coffee shop. Total cost for the project is in excess of $23 million.

The museum will be open 363 days a year. The founding bodies and sponsors of  the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari are the Modena City Council, the Provincial  Administration of Modena, the Modena Chamber of Commerce, Ferrari S.p.A. and the  Italian Automobile Club.

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Source: autoweek.com

Future Systems, a British architecture firm is behind a project to build a museum resembling the bright yellow hood of a vintage car over the house in which the founder of the Ferrari empire was born.

Construction began this week on the Ferrari museum, which will feature a wavy yellow roof resembling the hood of a vintage car.

It will arc over the two-story house in which motor racing legend and car designer Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898.

The museum, in the town of Modena, Italy is being built by London-based, architecture firm Future Systems, which beat seven international competitors to clinch the contract.

The museum will be devoted to Ferrari’s life and work and will contain vintage Ferraris, Maseratis, car engines, film footage and memorabilia.

The roof will be bisected by fins, with the design inspired by the radiator of a classic Maserati.

The hope is that the museum, which is due to be completed in 2011, will become an iconic landmark in the northern Italian town, attracting up to 200,000 visitors a year.

It will chart the career of Ferrari, who grew up next to the metal foundry run by his father, Alfredo.

He became a racing driver in the 1920s, achieving some success, before starting his own automobile company in 1929, establishing Ferraris as a design classic and becoming one of the world’s most successful car designers. He died in 1988 at the age of 90.

Ferrari’s famous symbol of a black horse against a yellow shield was inspired by the squadron badge of a World War One Italian flying ace, who was killed in a dogfight.

The new Enzo Ferrari Museum will complement an existing Ferrari Museum at Maranello, outside Modena.

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Source: telegraph.co.uk and luxist.com