Students from the Transportation Design Masters program at Spain's Elisava School of Design presented their work October 24th in the 2006 Degree Show entitled 'Mobility Techniques'. The Elisava Masters course in Transport Vehicle Design started seven years ago with the aim of providing new proposals for future transport through research and development of creative and innovative transport concepts. The course is taught in Barcelona, a worldwide reference for culture and design.
The projects presented in 'Mobility Techniques' included:
Mitsubishi Mobile Chat Room
Sam Schneider and Ammar Balawi
"Cars haven't changed much since the Model T. It's time for a change!" This project provides a solution for the future of city transportation, solving many problems from traffic jams to pollution, too many parked cars in the city and the lack of A-to-B connections with public transportation. The Mobile Chat Room is a vehicle you can order by mobile phone, selecting the profile of your co-passengers. In-wheel electric motors made it possible to design a completely new interior layout. The lounge-like design confronts the 'chat mates' and encourages them to socialise. And making use of recent advances in sensor technology and GPS, it navigates autonomously without a driver.
The vehicles are environmentally friendly, built from recycled materials and using battery or fuel cell driven electric motors. A central organisation of the vehicles and the fact that passengers share the same space reduces traffic congestion. As opposed to public transportation they connect A-to-B. The Mobile Chat Room breaks with car cliches. It has no steering wheel, no exhaust and doesn't use traditional lamps but instead illuminated bars to be seen, with no front engine, no lateral doors but generous front and rear access. Having different cultural backgrounds, the two students have tried to come up with a globally attractive design solution.
Michele Maria Conti and Goncalo-Filipe Mendes de Carvalho Martins
There is a worldwide competition every ten years sponsored by Nike. This triathlon starts on the beaches of Cape Town in South Africa, passes through the Sahara desert and ends in Alaska. The Nev'01 was born within this context. An expedition vehicle designed to cover a wide variety of terrain for extreme sports such as surfing, snowboarding and climbing. If you want to be a cutting edge athlete, you need a Nev, as it comes equipped for your expedition with four on-wheel electric motors and a GPS navigation connection. It's designed for three passengers: the driver, the mechanic and the route supervisor.
VIDI GTR
Eneko Amezketa and Toni Faus
This project looked at a redesign of the Lotus SuperSeven, a micro-car from the Vidi microcars brand. The greatest challenge was to create two designs that would be different from classic vehicle design without renouncing a visible chassis and the part of the original components. The project has two different proposals for the same concept. The VI version, designed by Eneko Amezketa, embraces the chassis with bodywork that prioritises the driver, emulating early racing cars. The DI version, designed by Toni Faus, covers the chassis with a series of parts that emphasise the roadster's characteristics, including two longitudinal arches so that the removable windscreen wipers can be attached, a canvas top and windscreen, housed in the glass part of the hood.
Renault Inside Out
Paulo Goncalves da Encarnacao
This 1+2 concept project is a mix between a luxurious sedan and a roadster for fashion-oriented people. Asymmetry is a key factor in this project, where the doors, seats and changes in material are asymmetrical. Inspired by fashion, the exterior surfaces wrap around the interior surfaces like a piece of clothing, blending the exterior and the interior through the use of different material applications.
Seat Sahara (Coupe 4 x 4)
Oscar Ortiz
This new concept of vehicle mixes coupe and four-wheel drive vehicles elements. The main goal of this is to give a responce to the increasing market demand of all-terrain vehicles but also letting their drivers profit from the possibility to have a coupe at the same time. This is a vehicle aimed to enjoy driving in the city and in the countryside. The hard roof can be dismantled. Its design lines are hard and dynamic. It also has an advanced windscreen, a short hood and the trimmed wheelbase gives the car a more aggressive look.
Antolin Group 'My Lady Car'
Renan Legloire, Raquel Lopez and Xavi Barba
An exclusive project designed for the woman of the future and sponsored by the Antolin Group. The interior provides great visibility via its glass and high quality light thanks to the panoramic roof. Versatility, habitability and innovation are a result of new textures and materials that go to make up a state of the art space. At night, a pleasant, decorative light accompanies us around a sofa located at the rear.
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