From the city of Kozani in Macedonia, Greece, to the world-renowned designing building of a global car manufacturer, Alfa Romeo, Alexandros Liokis is living proof that dreams do come true.
After an inspired dissertation in the final year of his master’s degree in car design, the Greek student then, a graduate of the TEI of Industrial Design of Kozani, found himself at the offices of the famous Centro Style of the Italian firm Alfa Romeo after accepted a job offer.
It’s a success story based on hard work and talent. But that was only the start of his path to recognition.
Eight years down the road, the Greek car designer saw his talent and hard work reach a pinnacle of acknowledgment in the highly competitive industry; the model he designed in recent years wins a very important award, the “Audience Award”, in the context of this year’s Car of the Year awards organised by the prestigious British car magazine “What Car? ”
At the beginning of 2020, Mr. Liokis’ design won another award, the Grand Prize of the Most Beautiful Show Car 2020, received by the Tonale Concept at the 35th Automobile International Festival.
“The truth is that to become a car designer you start from… rough sketches on your school desk. I did that too!”, Mr. Liokis answers, speaking on the Athens News Agency radio station “Agency 104.9 FM”, when asked if what he is doing today has always been his passion.
He explains that it is possible for any Greek to find themselves in a similar position if they start either from the specific school of Kozani he went to or from the Department of Product & Systems Design Engineering of Syros, maybe even from a school of Architecture, as long as they set their heart to it! “It was my dream was I was a boy. I did not want to become either an astronaut or a footballer. I dreamed of designing cars”, confesses Mr. Liokis, emphasising that teachers and parents supported him in his choice even in the tender years of his youth.
The exterior design of a mass production model
If one asks the name of a Greek who has designed a car model, at best he will get the answer Sir Alec Isigonis, the man who designed the original “Mini”, and this is probably because this was such a rarity in the history of private car production. Alexandros Liokis has now joined this elite club of creators. “During this award, as in others in Italy – and not only – what fascinates me is that we share the same enthusiasm with the public. It is that, as we look forward to seeing the car on the streets after so many years of hard work, people too who have not been involved on the road are also waiting. I have done a lot of things in recent years, but this is the first car model for which I was responsible for the overall design and that is so exciting “, notes Mr. Liokis.
The designer has a huge responsibility as “he has to dress up a mechanical set and start with a sketch on paper, the beginning of each car, until there is, through the cooperation with the engineers, the final production car”, explains Mr. Liokis, who also describes his own design signature. Every designer has their own special style- I like clean lines, clean surfaces – “sculpture”, lines that come together seamlessly, “flow” around a car. If something is not captured spontaneously, this plan does not inspire me”, explains the talented Greek designer, who knows that 2021 will be his year. “I can’t wait to see it at the traffic light!”, He replies with an almost childish enthusiasm for his work.
