Degree Show: Kookmin University 2019
Kookmin University, South Korea’s first private university after it became an independent nation, recently had its second-ever Automotive & Transport Design degree show at their campus in Seoul.
The exhibition showcased 18 undergraduate students’ projects, encompassing exterior and interior styling, UX and mobility explorations – the results of a course that trains students in exterior, interior, CMF, Alias Maya, clay modelling and mobility research, all in one.
Get a flavour of the diverse range of projects on display by scrolling through the first gallery below. If you fancy more, a selection of projects are described in more detail further down.
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Group Project ARO
This group project, done by Lee Minji, Lee Jungmin and Hong Jeonghwa, is a Level-5 autonomous mobility system meant to keep the first and last miles of one’s journey to a minimum. The team says it was designed around a concept of ‘ageing in place’ and would aim to make people’s lives more enjoyable.
Group Project DELI
The second of three group projects, this time by Minji Kim,Yuri Cho and Sein Jin, is a metropolitan mobility module meant to allow citizens ”to enjoy welfare without regional discrimination.” The centre section flexes to give greater dexterity on tighter streets, and can expand or contract to suit passenger numbers, like a futuristic accordion. But possibly less tuneful.
Group Project SWAP
MinJi Kim and Sein Jin also created Project SWAP. With silver bodywork and structural elements being complimented by red highlights and a vast glazed area, it aims to smooth the buying and exhanging of used goods (via an online market and app) by ”connecting the sellers and buyers through mobility.” A SWAP transport unit can join up with another at the rear end to bring buyer and seller together to do business.
Dahyung Kang
The essence of the E-SSENCE by Dahyung Kang is that it resembles a single ceramic sculpture, rather than a manufacturered product. The ‘spindle’ graphic seen on current Lexus models is present at the front in a layered yet reductive guise, which is echoed in the top-down view as well. The single-seat cockpit is at the very back of the vehicle, while ahead there is an almost Henry Moore-style hole right in the middle of the side profile. A turbine-like air outlet at the front helps form the curved nose.
Hae Oh
Hae Oh’s Mercedes-EQ Vision W concept is a yacht-inspired configurable luxury AV. The fixed-roof main cabin is set far back, but up front is a hidden pop-up ‘dickie seat’ (dubbed ‘I’ for ‘Inhale’) for a more open-air travelling experience. The ‘N’ zone (standing for ’&’) in the main cabin facilitates ”virtual driving” by way of a VR headset and features magnetically levitated seats which transform to suit different drive modes.
Hahn Kim
Hahn Kim’s project is as much an art installation as it is automotive design. They were searching for a purity they feel has been lost from car exteriors, by carefully suspending nuts and bolts from real cars to suggest the flowing silhouette of a curvaceous coupé. The installation also lets the viewer see how the volumes of this theoretical sports car disappear as certain nuts fall to the floor.
Jamin Koo
Jamin Koo says of their project: ”Humans and cars were born to move. So here I suggest the ‘Motor Sports’, in which the human instinct becomes the instinct of the automobile.” This Audi, in which the driver is positioned more like they’re riding a superbike, is a rolling gym session, gaining more performance the more its driver exercises and becomes fitter. Motorsport fans sometimes wish that we could see motor racing represented in the Olympics – perhaps this would be the way to do it.
Jane Kim
This concept vehicle is designed for whomever spends the most on Hermès fashion. The sleek sculptural monovolume arrives to collect this ‘VVIP’, at which point the front rises up and folds apart (in a process inspired by the opening mechanism on Hermès’ ‘Birkin’ bag) so the user can step inside. The theory is that high-end customers of the fashion label will endeavour to out-spend each other in order to get a lift in this special vehicle. The slatted bodyside surfacing was inspired by the company’s ‘Orange Box’ store branch in Hong Kong, while the tail’s tapered shape and covered rear wheels aim to pique onlookers’ curiosity.
Jung Hae Kyoung
This BMW Activator roadster for 2036 is conceived as a 100th-anniversary homage to the 1936 BMW 328. The cab-rearward road racer (electric in this case, of course) combines classic proportions with a current-era double-kidney treatment that creates ridges in the bonnet (like the new Vision M-Next and Concept 4 show cars) plus some more futuristic touches. Given the current trend for open-top special-series supercars with no windscreen, it would probably be a success if it was launched right now…
Sook Jin Park
Sook Jin Park “took the image of underwater sunlight and adopted as the main theme” of their Renault Eau project. The stressed-out user can treat it as their escape pod, shutting out the horrors and strains of reality while taking in natural light through the wave-pattern windows in the roof. Smart surfaces and a screen in the side of the simply layered, architectural lounge-for-one interior aid with infotainment.
Sohyun Ahn
Sohyun Ahn’s mobility project was created around a theme of ‘digital detox’ and de-stressing. After trying out ideas in Grasshopper 3D, they settled on a graphics theme created by projecting circles onto the complex curved surfaces (most clearly seen in the exterior lighting rings). They also created a net of rings around the cabin that is meant to flow in a way that intends to visualise breathing and the flow of air.
Sooyoung Oh
Sooyoung Oh has envisioned a system of high-speed electric bicycles for hire via app (graphics shown in gallery). The bike itself has hubless wheels and a minimalist frame design that appears as if a separate front and rear end are floating in close proximity to each other. There are also purpose-designed docking stations for returning and recharging the bikes.
Yein Song
Yein Song’s Renault ‘Biface’ – also labelled “The Tubester” – is a single-seat roadster that is symmetrical in shape front to rear, but has a different DRG at each end with one aggressive face and one clean, neutral one. The seat and driving controls are in a rotating tube unit that lets them sit in either direction, a feature that they say “combines the strengths of self-driving cars and sports cars.”
Youri Cho
Polls, by Youri Cho, takes Mobility as a Service (MAAS) and politicises it – but in a good way. The two-wheeled autonomous pod is able to help parties communicate more closely with their constituents, and can act as a mobile polling station (the cylindrical room pivots around to give a user privacy).