Track Star

Ora ïto brings a new charge to public transport in Nice

- Amy Serafin

Some people get their name on a street sign – though generally when it’s too late for them to see it. Ora ïto, the puckish 41-year-old French designer with a talent for controversy, is about to have his name on a streetcar snaking across Nice. The tram is sleek and futuristic, and gleams like a candy apple.

Born Ito Morabito, Ora ïto spent his childhood in Nice. ‘That’s what makes the project even more incredible,’ says the designer, who keeps a miniature model of the tram on a shelf in his Parisian loft. ‘To have an entire line in the city where you grew up is very special.’ His logo will appear next to the manufacturer’s, Alstom, on both sides of each vehicle, a fact that pleases him immensely.

This was Ora ïto’s first experience designing public transport. His collaboration with Alstom, a global leader in light rail vehicles, started when the French company asked him to design a concept for a tram of the future. In late 2014, the company invited him to join its bid for Nice’s new tram, and together they won the contract.

Ora ïto admits that he had always had problems with tramways because of the visual pollution of overhead cables. Nice’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, felt the same – an absence of wires was part of the brief. ‘It was essential that this new tramway line blend perfectly into the urban landscape while preserving our city’s architecture,’ the mayor says.