Lexus, also in its fourth year, has become a pro at launching design events during the Milan Design Week. They have a clear vision of where the design of their cars comes from and stay true to their Japanese roots and culture. This is a winning formula for a show in Milan, a city that appreciates the philosophical artistic nuances and subtleties of Japanese design. The Lexus L-finesse 'Elastic Diamond' art exhibition was set in Milan's Museo della Permanente and designed by Oki Sato founder of Nendo, a Tokyo and Milan-based product design firm. Inspired by the L-finesse philosophy - the intensity of being 'leading-edge' and the depth of 'finesse' - that governs the design of Lexus cars, Sato took one of the strongest materials in nature, the diamond, and made it light and elastic. By using the intrinsic structure of a diamond and utilizing different expressive forms and functions, Sato developed living and moving objects that were whimsical and sensitive.
Three main pieces were the 'diamond chair', made by rapid-prototyping shown onsite, 'diamond bubble', a structure that opened and closed with a blue light as if it were breathing, and the 'diamond lamp', a sparkling light fixture made from polyvinyl. The simple organic movements, low lighting, and ‘breathing' diamonds made everyone calm as they entered the space. Visitors moved around the pieces in awe and silence, appreciating the introspective elegance of the space.
The car model, based on the LF-Xh Hybrid Drive concept car presented at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, was painted in an all-black coating that reflected the living polypropylene towers surrounding it, giving the car a mysterious aura. These 'diamond pillars' also expanded and contracted every so softly highlighting the peaceful yet technologically advanced design that goes into Lexus vehicles.
The VW Up! Design Sustainability display felt 'unfinished', or put up at very last minute. Following the lead of the other carmakers, Walter de'Silva stated he wanted to "[break] free from the closed world of motor shows, opening the door to the aesthetics and discourses of contemporary industrial design". Though he never made it to the venue, the exhibition showcased VW's new Up! design and philosophy direction, which is an introspective look into VW's heritage with a distinctive ‘Bauhaus' flavor, shifting away from Murat Gunak's design legacy.
Flavio Manzoni, Head of Creative Design at VW's North Group, said that the new direction was designed to "provoke change" by returning to minimalism and purist design, without of course voiding the product of character. Although the name of the show was ‘Design Sustainability' there were no obvious green signs that would reflect sensibility to the environment aside from the car's better fuel efficiency. Given the chance to lead, and create their own new Bauhaus, they have taken to the safety and familiarity of a 90 year old design philosophy. It is a cliché, but only time will tell what VW's green future looks like.
Quite a popular stop in Zona Tortona, the Alcantara Lab featured a ‘live' journey of the production process of their fabrics building on their marketing efforts to showcase their products as ‘extraordinary'. The process was shown by graphically printing the production steps on their own fabrics thus highlighting the technological potential of their product. No doubt this journey may be interesting for industry people, but the exhibition lacked the X-factor that sparks people's imagination, quite unlike last year's event where a retrospective of Italian concept cars would have made any visitor green with envy!
Related Articles:
Show Review: Milan Design Week 2007
Show Review: Alcantara Style and Italian Car Design
Milan Design Week 2006
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