Gareth Thomas presents 'Creature SUV'
'Creature SUV' by Gareth Thomas
Kim Soo Heung
Kim Soo Heung
Daniel Rodrigues
'Jiro' by Linda Andersson
RCA Vehicle Design course leader Dale Harrow with Toyota Europe Design President Wahei Hirai and Deputy General Design Manager Kazuhisa Einaga
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'Creature SUV' by Gareth Thomas takes inspiration from animals, with the soft surfaces on the exterior protecting those outside, while a solid understructure provides protection for those inside.
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The form derives from the elastic properties of the soft enveloping membrane, a reflection of Japanese aesthetics. The soft skin also adapts to changes in ride height and suspension movements.
In Kim Soo Heung's interpretation, clarity means 'a clear identity' translated into a characteristic object, one that uses the emotional lines and shapes from nature, in this case aquatic forms, to express vibrancy.
One of the groups looked at SUV designs based on the function of the most typical or common vehicle of a foreign country and culture, but with the aesthetics, utility, and attitude driven by each designers own country's national identity, their individual attitudes and beliefs, and those of the customers for whom the vehice was designed.
Mediterranean lifestyle and Scandinavian functionality combine in Daniel Rodrigues' concept, designed around the idea of Spanish 'Joy for life'. An open vehicle connecting it's occupants to the world around them, and 'a quest for a deeper emotional involvement in the driving experience'.
Linda Andersson's 'Jiro' is a sporty coupe with the practicality of an SUV, influenced by the rugged American truck culture and the Scandinavian national identity of simplicity and purity.
Toyota offered prizes for their favorite design solutions, and the winners were announced by the President of Toyota Europe Design, Wahei Hirai, at the final presentation review and exhibition:
Gareth Thomas - overall winner, trip to Toyota Design Studios, Japan.
Jussi Timonen - Summer 2003 internship with ED2
Daniel Rodriguez Ramiro - Summer 2003 internship with ED2.
Thomas Eaton, Benjamin Walsh, Viktor Holmqvist, Group Presentation, highly commended, short visit to ED2.
Alvaro Del Campo Barcena, Serge Porcher, Heung Soo Kim, Finalists.
Toyota Design staff were fully embedded in the project and attended all intermediate and final presentations. This proved to be a unique experience for all involved and is fundamental to the Vehicle Design department strategy of working closely with industry.
"The Vehicle Design Department works closely with leaders in the subject and discipline", says Dale Harrow, Vehicle Design Course Leader. "This can take many forms, but one of the most successful collaborations is through project work with a leading industrial sponsor. The department acts as an ideas laboratory to fully explore the future of transportation design through innovative design research."
The Royal College of Art is a wholly postgraduate university of art and design, specialising in teaching and research and offering the degrees of MA, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of fine art, applied art, design, communications and humanities.
Royal College of Art website: www.rca.ac.uk
Related stories:
Royal College of Art Show 2002
Nissan- RCA Design Competition 2002
Photos: Brett Patterson
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