CCS MA students "push conceptual boundaries" at latest show

From Pagani and Lancia to Apple and Louis Vuitton, students at the Detroit-based College for Creative Studies reimagined mobility solutions for a broad array of established brands at this summer's degree show. 

Proposals ranged from typical passenger cars to more futuristic mobility concepts that in some cases create their own typologies; it is not often that we hear of a vehicle that can be taken for a walk as a companion.  

Course leader Raphael Zammit explains that the MFA Thesis is a self-guided project that spans two-semesters, with the aim of encouraging students to "push the conceptual boundaries of mobility and hopefully society."

"Students select a topic of personal interest with significant depth, scope, and conceptual reach," he explains. "They engage in rigorous research, insight generation, concept and design development, prototyping, final design and model execution, and compelling communication/ storytelling. Thesis topics grapple with complexities ranging from broad socio-economic issues, to integrated mobility systems design, to highly technical mechanical functionality, to speculative fiction and fashion."

Read on for an overview of the thesis projects presented by MFA graduates from both 2024 and 2025, with descriptions of the project provided by the students themselves. 

Anurag Kurapati — Apple Motion

The Apple Motion concept aims to make sustainable transportation aspirational in a way that is uniquely ‘Apple’ — and that is to rethink the paradigm of personal transportation itself. This concept, closer to a bike than a car, allows for a completely multimodal experience that expands beyond just transportation. The pedal-assist electric vehicle encourages health when in its recumbent bike mode and reconfigures seamlessly into upright sit, sit/stand, and full standing passenger modes depending on the nature of one’s commute. An autonomous ‘companion’ mode allows it to walk with its user when safety is desired or when walking during a portion of a commute makes more sense. It also allows the vehicle to climb stairs and its compact size means it easily fits into a closet for apartment-friendly lifestyles. Its auxetic mesh skin offers protection from the elements and injury, while its digital pass-though vision allows unobstructed 360-degree surround view directly through the main structural frame. This all recalls how Apple has used technology and creative thinking to pioneer new user experiences.

Hungwei Lin — Lancia Revival 

This classic brand study takes a much more realistic and production-oriented approach, and builds on the momentum of Lancia’s own recent brand refresh. 

The project attempted an extensive brand analysis not only of Lancia itself, but of its specific role within the Stellantis portfolio as well as to claim it’s unique territory amongst other premium French and Italian brands.

Ian Shafer — I.ROD

The I.ROD concept is actually not a car, but a comprehensive yet intuitive DIY design-fabrication system that encourages and guides tech-inundated youth to build almost any vehicle they can dream up. An online app provides a large menu of modular, pre-engineered solutions for structures, packaging, motors and all other parts that can be mixed and matched in endless design combinations. The app then also guides users in how to 3D print or easily fabricate individual parts and how to assemble these into unique vehicles - all at home or at communal work spaces. 

James Shiels — Rivian Ambasador

The Rivian Ambassador is an electric UTV aiming to bring the benefits of battery electric vehicles to a skeptical market that traditionally prefers gasoline powered UTVs. To win this audience over, this concept leverages thoughtful design to incorporate user-centric innovations as part of the standard vehicle offering. For example, camping, hunting, and all-weather accessory attachments as well as the battery itself are integrated directly into the vehicle’s frame.

Jerry Lee — Mercedes Vision Unity

The Mercedes Vision Unity concept is provocative in that its aim is not merely to present a new vehicle concept, but for the Mercedes Brand to use it’s popularity, social media presence, and decades long-standing relationships with top fashion brands to collaborate in the creation of a vehicle concept that not only physically but emotionally and philosophically move people. In an era of global socio-political tensions and divisions, this concept seeks to collaborate with leading fashion designers in an attempt to find common ground where seemingly insurmountable differences persist. And not by way of finding a bland compromise where both sides’ points of view are so watered down that both sides are equally dissatisfied with the result as the original opposing view. Instead the task here to find the best of both points of view and to celebrate their value enough such that both sides can appreciate them and find at least common respect as a stepping stone towards common understanding.

Mahmoud Alsaid — Phygital Vette

A highly speculative project, the Phygital Vette concept originally started out as part of real-world virtual reality simulation interior cockpit project. The design integrated haptic feedback and other sensory cues to increase spacial awareness in order to also reduce the motion sickness that many virtual reality users experience when fully immersed. The scope of the concept then expanded to include an exterior design that explored what a Corvette might look like if it straddled the boundary between physical and digital realities.

Omkar Jadhav — Louis Vuitton x Cadillac

A luxury limousine providing seamless (door-to-door) transnational travel at speeds close to commercial air travel — but with the benefit of never having to leave your own vehicle. A true private jet alternative made possible by a road-based vehicle capable of using ultra-high-speed maglev railways.

Shuyang Yan — Pagani Caproni

Pagani expands beyond hyper-cars into the emerging VTOL market with a personal ‘hyper-jet’ that combines bespoke luxury with unparalleled performance. Jet-mounted articulating wings provide both directional thrust and air-braking. Together, these enable extreme manoeuvrability as well as the ability to take off and land within the parking space of a large SUV. 

Siddartha Dutt — Hyptec Hyper-X

The Hyptec Hyper X catapults this relatively new brand not only onto the scene but into a commanding position with the debut of its entry into Le Mans all new (conceptual) LMHR (Le Mans Hyper Realm) class. This race class is situated above today’s LHM and LMDH Prototype classes, and boasting a push towards hydrogen powertrains and greatly reduced regulations. While this concept does allow for some stylistic liberties (as a design and not a purely performance engineering study), the intent of this concept was to realise a realistic race car that both respects real-world racing considerations while also exploring a bold visual statement for the brand.

Songlin He — Tesla Vision 100

The Tesla Mars Racer is a highly speculative concept that imagines a 100-year anniversary for Tesla which it celebrates by sponsoring a race that covers nearly circumnavigates Mars - exploring its poles and the other various and distinct geological regions and surface formations. The race is part of an attempt to promote interest in Mars as a way to also raise venture capital investment in mining and other development projects there.

This article is the first of two features on the CCS MA course. 

The next will showcase final projects created by first-year students at the Detroit-based school of design.