A Porsche Designer in Sant’Agata: The Appointment That Defined a Decade
When Lamborghini confirmed Mitja Borkert as the new director of Centro Stile on April 4, 2016, the reaction among enthusiasts was predictable: cautious skepticism. A German designer who spent 17 years at Porsche in Weissach was stepping into a role shaped by the operatic Italian gestures of predecessors stretching back to Marcello Gandini. He succeeded Filippo Perini, who moved on to become Design Director of Italdesign, and reported directly to Maurizio Reggiani, Board Member for Research and Development. Nobody doubted Borkert could draw a beautiful car. His portfolio at Porsche, where he contributed to models including the Panamera Sport Turismo, Cayenne, Macan, and the Mission E concept that previewed the Taycan, answered that. The real question was whether a designer steeped in Porsche’s philosophy of functional restraint could channel the raw visual aggression that makes a Lamborghini a Lamborghini.
Nearly a decade later, the answer is visible in every current model wearing the raging bull. The Urus, the Sian FKP37, the Huracan’s final variants, the Revuelto, and now the Temerario all carry Borkert’s fingerprints. His tenure represents the longest sustained period of design continuity Lamborghini’s modern lineup has experienced, and it coincides with the most significant technical transformation in the company’s history: the shift to hybrid powertrains across every model line. Understanding his philosophy matters because it explains not just what these cars look like, but why they look the way they do at a moment when electrification could easily dilute the brand’s visual identity.
From Weissach to Centro Stile: A Philosophy Built on Empathy, Not Nationality
Born in Herzberg, in what was then East Germany, in 1974, Borkert graduated in Transportation Design from the Design University of Pforzheim and joined Style Porsche in 1999. He rose through several positions to General Manager Advanced Design and then, in 2014, Director of Exterior Design. That career arc gave him deep fluency in a design culture where every surface answers to engineering logic and wind-tunnel data. Porsche’s language is evolutionary; a 911 from 2024 must read as a descendant of a 911 from 1964.
Lamborghini operates by a different set of rules entirely. The Miura bore no visual resemblance to the 350 GT that preceded it. The Countach looked like nothing else on the road when it appeared. Borkert recognized this distinction early and framed his approach around what he calls empathy, understanding, and vision, qualities he considers more important than a designer’s nationality. One report describes his guiding principle as “expect the unexpected,” a deliberate echo of the shock factor that defined Gandini’s Countach and the Bertone-era concepts. The difference is that Borkert applies this principle within a more disciplined framework, where drama coexists with purpose.
That blend of German process rigor and Italian theatrical ambition turns out to be precisely what a company navigating the transition from naturally aspirated engines to plug-in hybrid systems needs. The technical packaging changes, but the emotional obligation stays the same: a Lamborghini parked at a curb must still stop pedestrians in their tracks.
The Hexagon and the Wedge: Signature Elements of the Borkert Era
Borkert frequently highlights hexagons as a core element of Lamborghini’s design DNA, and this goes well beyond a branding exercise. The hexagonal motif appears in headlight clusters, exhaust surrounds, air intakes, and interior switchgear across the current lineup. On the Temerario GT3, where FIA regulations strip away much of the designer’s freedom, his team still managed to incorporate hexagonal shapes into the race lighting. That kind of persistence under constraint reveals how seriously Centro Stile treats visual identity as a non-negotiable element, even when function dictates form.
The angular wedge silhouette, a Lamborghini hallmark since the Countach, remains the structural backbone. Borkert himself stated in interviews that he will “never change the silhouette of Lamborghini” as long as he leads the design team. The goal is instant recognition: a child should be able to identify a Lamborghini from its profile alone.
What Borkert layered onto this foundation is a sharper sense of surface tension. His cars use fewer decorative creases and more purposeful volumes. The Revuelto’s flanks, for instance, channel air toward the rear diffuser through sculpted channels rather than applied vents. The Temerario pushes this further, with a body that Car and Driver described through Borkert’s own sketches during an interview, where he explained how each line serves an aerodynamic or cooling function. For buyers configuring a new Temerario, this philosophy means the car’s visual drama comes from its engineering requirements, not from styling applique that could date quickly.
Design in the Hybrid Age: Making Electrification Look Like Lamborghini
The shift to hybrid powertrains across the entire range presents a design challenge that few competitors face with equal intensity. Ferrari, under Flavio Manzoni, can evolve its curves gradually because its visual language accommodates subtlety. McLaren’s design ethos already emphasizes aerodynamic purity over visual aggression. Lamborghini’s problem is different: its cars must look extreme, and the cooling demands and packaging constraints of battery packs and electric motors threaten to soften that extremity.
Borkert’s response, visible in both the Revuelto and the Temerario, treats hybrid hardware as a design opportunity rather than a compromise. The Revuelto’s Y-shaped headlights and massive rear diffuser exist partly because the car needs to manage heat from both a V12 combustion engine and three electric motors. The Temerario, which pairs a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with three electric motors for a combined 907 horsepower, uses its compact mid-engine layout to preserve the low, aggressive stance that defines the brand. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann described the Temerario as joining a lineup that is “better than ever before,” and from a pure design-coherence standpoint, the claim is defensible.
The Lamborghini Manifesto concept, revealed to celebrate Centro Stile’s 20th anniversary, offers the clearest signal of where Borkert intends to take the brand’s aesthetic next. Car and Driver reported that the concept is not meant to preview a production car but instead serves as a vision for the future design language. The Manifesto retains the wedge, the hexagons, and the aggressive proportions while exploring forms that could accommodate a fully electric powertrain. Lamborghini confirmed it will not revisit past icons like the Miura through retro-styled tributes, a stance that reinforces Borkert’s forward-looking approach and distinguishes the brand from competitors who lean on heritage reinterpretation.
Competitive Context: Where Borkert’s Lamborghini Stands Against Rivals
Design leadership in the supercar segment is measured by influence, not just aesthetics. Ferrari’s recent decision to recruit Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, for the interior of its first EV, the Luce, signals that Maranello views design as a battleground extending well beyond exterior surfaces. McLaren’s relatively conservative exterior evolution prioritizes aerodynamic efficiency over visual shock. Porsche, Borkert’s former employer, continues its tradition of incremental refinement.
Lamborghini under Borkert occupies a unique position in this landscape. No other major supercar manufacturer commits so aggressively to visual disruption as a brand pillar while simultaneously maintaining a coherent design language across SUVs, V8 sports cars, V12 flagships, and GT3 race cars. The Temerario GT3, with its functional S-duct, specific brake air intakes, and imposing rear wing, still reads unmistakably as a Lamborghini despite the severe constraints of GT3 regulations. That consistency across wildly different vehicle types and regulatory environments is Borkert’s most underappreciated achievement.
For prospective buyers weighing a Temerario against a Ferrari 296 GTB or a McLaren 750S, the design philosophy matters in practical terms. Lamborghini’s visual boldness tends to hold residual value well because the cars remain visually distinctive years after purchase. Owners who spec a Revuelto or Temerario through Lamborghini’s Ad Personam program are investing in a design language that, under Borkert, shows no signs of retreating toward the mainstream.
What Comes Next for Lamborghini’s Aesthetic Direction
Borkert’s stated ambition to distill Lamborghini design into what he describes as radical purity and powerful presence points toward a future where the cars become visually simpler but more intense. The Manifesto concept suggests fewer individual styling elements and more reliance on proportion, surface quality, and the interplay of light across large, uninterrupted panels. If the next fully electric Lamborghini, widely expected by the end of the decade, follows this trajectory, it would represent a significant evolution from the current hybrid models without abandoning the brand’s core visual identity.
Lamborghini confirmed through CEO Winkelmann that a new two-door GT is also part of the future product plan, a body style the brand explored decades ago with the original 350 GT and 400 GT before pivoting to mid-engine supercars. How Borkert interprets a front-engine grand tourer through Lamborghini’s current design vocabulary remains one of the most intriguing open questions in the segment.
What the last nine years demonstrate is that the skepticism surrounding Borkert’s 2016 appointment was misplaced. A designer trained in Porsche’s culture of functional elegance did not dilute Lamborghini’s visual aggression. He sharpened it, gave it structural logic, and built a design framework flexible enough to survive the most significant powertrain transition in the company’s six-decade history. The cars speak for themselves, and they speak loudly.
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