The Prestigious Design of Ferrari's Factory

To walk through the back gate of the Ferrari automotive works here and stroll down Viale Enzo Ferrari is to enter a museum of architecture.

To the left is a wind tunnel designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, a soaring tangle of immense gray tubes and cubes where Ferrari's ear-splitting, nerve-tickling, expensive automobiles are tested for aerodynamic properties.

To the right is the finishing plant for engine blocks and other components, designed by Marco Visconti - three sets of huge glass blocks floating on greenery.

"We had three goals," said Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ferrari's president, who began commissioning star architects, beginning with Mr. Piano, in 1997.

"We wanted to renew Ferrari's organization, to eliminate the division into series A and series B among our employees, and to maintain, not to lose, the spirit of Ferrari."