Interior Motives: Genesis Mint

“The Mint is the tip of the iceberg of the new colour and trim philosophy that will be rolled out with the new Genesis models about to be launched,” says Luc Donckerwolke, chief design officer, Hyundai Motor Group. “It’s an elegant take on premium and luxury automotive design, refinement and anti-conformism applied to inspire connoisseurs.”

Besides this previewing role, the two-door, two-seat Mint also explores a new typology for the Genesis brand. As an all-electric A-sector city car, it “challenged us to visualise a scaled-down interpretation of our signature aesthetic,” Donckerwolke explains.

Genesis Mint exterior

The Mint project was initiated by a competition between the Genesis design studio in Namyang, South Korea, the US team in California, and the global advanced design studio in Germany. This began around eight months prior to the New York motor show (April 2019), at which the concept was to be unveiled. Such a short programme meant an acceleration of the early sketching phases, enabled by the team’s fully-digitised working practices.

“We looked almost immediately at 3D data sketches to evaluate basic proportions,” says Luc Donckerwolke. “The timing was only to be achieved by a digital process with the best digital experts. The project was realised entirely digitally, with no clay modelling – only a control of proportions was done with a full-size milled foam model.”

The three-box format chosen for the Mint was a theme created by the European design team; this was then developed by the Korean studio. “Then we reviewed again new proposals based on this architecture, and we chose the new European proposal, although mixed with the idea of a side access pod,” Donckerwolke explains.

Mint interior development images

The side access concept involved scissor-style openings giving access to the rear compartment; these allow a low load-in point for easy stowage and retrieval of items from the parcel shelf, and mean that a conventional rear hatch is not needed. In turn, this played a part in defining the architecture and layout of the interior.

In line with the reductive, purist philosophy applied to the exterior, “the interior had to be more of a minimally-furnished room than an automotive interior,” says Luc Donckerwolke. “A carpet in a concrete room, with a Charles and Ray Eames chaise-longue and ottoman, was the vision from my designers. The rest was just finding natural, inoffensive lines and volumes to optimise the perception of space, with floating, soft, curved elements to avoid defining visual borders.”

Versatility and adaptability were key to maximising the space in this compact vehicle. The centre console can be folded to turn the front bench into comfortable sofa-like seating; and both the instrument panel and the bench swivel to aid entry and exit from the cabin. “The sofa rotating to ease access, complementing the movement of the IP, is my favourite element by its design and floating character,” says Donckerwolke, citing this as a highlight of the Mint’s interior.

Final interior renderings

The Mint was conceived as a place of refuge in the urban environment, perhaps after a long day’s work, head of Hyundai Global Design Center SangYup Lee told Car Design News at the New York show. “A bucket seat is no longer relevant, so we wanted to make it more like a lounge,” he explained.

As with earlier Genesis concepts, the Mint’s interior styling takes influence from the Korean design tradition of celebrating empty space, as well as from modern European furniture. Visual interest comes from the signature G-Matrix pattern, “the recurrent design and structural element of the interior,” explains Luc Donckerwolke. This is applied to the thin metallic elements running across the passenger compartment, on details including the vents and pedals, and repeated on the floor and cargo area.

A sense of luxury was important to maintain the Mint’s identity as a Genesis, despite its scaled-down dimensions, and this was communicated again in the colour, trim and materials theme. “Luxury is courage, courage to give up the superfluous and superficial – that is what guided the design,” says Donckerwolke. “The natural, non-provocative colours and materials were chosen to complement the simple shapes, and to make you feel at home, although the green and cognac colours have a real heritage automotive feel.”

The colours were deliberately borrowed from classic luxury and GT cars, adds Lee. “It’s a combination you’d find in an Aston Martin or a Bentley, but when you do it in a smaller car, it has a different feel to it.”

Interior trim and renderings

While the colourway gives a classic atmosphere to the Mint, the Genesis team are also looking at incorporating new lightweight, smart textiles to future interiors. “We are working on the feasibility of application of lightweight materials that transport functions and allow an interface between the user and the car,” says Donckerwolke. “In other words, to make pleasant materials intelligent, to allow a reduction of synthetic commands.” Again, this will enable a further reduction and de-cluttering of cabin elements.

The Mint is designed for Level 3 or 4, rather than full, autonomy, so the driver still needs to focus on the driving functions, and to view key data or information. The oblong steering wheel is complemented by six small, copper-rimmed circular screens, three each side and each devoted to specific communications. A further screen is mounted in the centre of the wheel to display primary vehicle information, and a large central control knob is housed in the folding console.

“Right now, a big screen is mainstream, but some people in the city are looking at a big screen all day, and we ask, ‘is that really a pleasant feeling?’” says Lee. “For us, it’s not necessary, and voice activation is well-enough developed now.”

Design development work in the studio

Building the New York show car was not a challenge despite the tight deadline, Luc Donckerwolke says. “It was an assembly process following a completely digitalised construction process that was simulated virtually, in order to ‘invent’ the time that we did not have.” It was also an international undertaking: while the project management was based in Korea, the show car was built by a supplier in Germany, under the support of Hyundai Design’s director of operations in the US, Hans Lapine, who took responsibility for its construction and execution.

This cross-continent collaboration has resulted nonetheless in another coherent and striking mission-statement from Genesis design, illustrating Luc Donckerwolke’s aim of combining classic proportions with forward-looking, minimalist design. “A reduction is always a victory,” he concludes, “and here again, if simplicity is perceived, it means that it was worth the efforts. Going back to purism is the most difficult process.”

The design team and the launch in New York 2019

Dimensions: not given