Eric Gallina
Posts Tagged "live feed"
Video: Mini Rocketman in detail
We covered certain aspects of the Rocketman concept in our previous post, trend observation and photo gallery. Now it’s time to bring you the full video of new Design Director Anders Warming talking us around the car, highlighting not only the sense of occasion that comes with the simple act of opening the door, but also the rear drawer and tailgate. At 3400mm long, the Rocketman is a foot shorter than the Cooper, but has high levels of functionality and technical detailing to keep weight down.
Eric Gallina
Comment: Pagani Huayra and Supercar design
Walking around the show floor and discussing various topics with the oft opinionated Chris Bangle opened our eyes to a number of issues currently existing in the automotive design industry. But one such conversation – featured in our earlier Supercars post – really resonated. Have supercars hit a design cul-de-sac?
With the obvious exception of the shooting brake Ferrari FF, the Aventador and Pagani feature the same proportions and cab-forward stance that has been used on exotic supercars dating back to the 1970s. But while the Aventador is a gentle evolution of Donckerwolke’s work, the Pagani pushes the generic sports car aesthetic by employing a multitude of lightweight and high-strength materials into its design.
“Since the 917 we’ve been treated to this sort of proportion,” Bangle said, looking at the car. “There’s been a subtle variation of it on a few and, if anything this is the most automotive looking.”
The Pagani’s design, however, appears to be playing second fiddle to the technological elements required in such a car. It graced the stand as a marvel of what can be done with carbon fiber, aluminum and super steels; the Pagani really is a technological showcase. But ultimately, as Bangle concludes: “This love affair with the plumbing locks you in to where we were in the last century, not where it’s going to go in the future.”
There’s no denying that vehicles which can travel at an alarmingly high rate of speed need to be aerodynamically optimized – and therefore adopt a similar form – but, besides what’s going on technically beneath the skin, there seems to be a lack of true innovation taking place at the supercar level.
Eric Gallina
Video: Marco Tencone takes us on a tour of the 4C concept
Created in Alfa Romeo’s design studios in Turin, Italy, the 4C concept is a technical and emotional showpiece for a new compact sports car from the Italian brand. Developed in a scant three months, the show car was built around a carbon fiber tub. CDN speaks to Marco Tencone, Alfa Romeo and Lancia Design Director, about the new design.
Eric Gallina
Exterior
Interior
Photo gallery: SAAB PhoeniX
It’s fair to say Jason Castriota’s SAAB Phoenix concept is one of the most talked-about cars of the show: opinions may have varied but one thing’s for sure – everyone had one. That of course includes Chris Bangle who you can see ask Castriota “Why is the PhoeniX a SAAB?” in our video.
If you’ve not had a chance to check it out yourself you can check out our full SAAB PhoeniX Flickr set, while 20 of said set are featured below.
Needless to say we’ll make our own opinions clear when the dust has finally settled.
Owen Ready
Details: Kia Rio
Before heading out to the show, we were a little reticent to make a beeline for the Kia stand. You see we’ve been right behind Peter Schreyer’s vision for Kia and fans of the results too. But from the initial press pictures the new Rio looked like it may be the first Schreyer-era Kia to disappoint. Thankfully we were wrong.
It overall form has a sophistication that’s approaching the VW Polo’s in this class. It’s not far behind the car from Wolfsburg when it comes to detail execution either:
Shutline treatment is bold, clean and precise. Rear door/boot treatment has a hint of Mk4 Golf in its parallel-ness
It would have been easy to run the feature line straight through the rear lamp but this subtle sculpturing is indicative of its attention to detail
Interior plastics quality may not be up to the standards of the best but details like these neat rocker switches and bold colourways greatly lift perceived quality
Owen Ready
Video: Jaguar B99 concept interior
Bertone Design Director Michael Robinson takes Car Design News on a visual tour of the Jaguar B99 concept interior.
Eric Gallina
Video: MIA Electric urban vehicle concept
Murat Guenak and David Wilkie, former Volkswagen and Bertone Design Directors respectively, unveiled a new all-electric mobility concept in Geneva.
Available for fleet sales from June this year, the vehicle features sliding doors and a three or four passenger arrangement, where the driver sits in the center with the passengers behind and on either side. The four passenger model is 300mm longer behind the rear seat, allowing the delivery variant of the same car 1500 liters of luggage space.
More product design-like rather than automotive referencing, the MIA is made from plastic body panels for lightweight. These are represented as simple honest trim pieces, which can be textured according to customer taste.
Eric Gallina
Comment: Renault Captur – organised complexity
In the second phase of its new design lifecycle the Renault Captur is all about ‘discovering the world’ after that wildly passionate, visceral embodiment of ‘falling in love’, the DeZir.
On a macro scale its format fits the remit perfectly; a compact crossover with the sort of outdoorsy stance that would look perfectly at home half-way up a mountain in a nauseatingly-posed publicity shot.
Of course that’s the danger with such a vehicle: it’s easy to slip into ‘lifestyle’ clichés, with mountain bikes and snowboards attached to every possible orifice. But the Captur deftly sidesteps such sickliness, particularly in its interior design, led by Magali Gouraud-Borgers, with Kana Watanabe responsible for colour and trim.
The use of fluorescent bungee cord to support the passenger side IP as well as form the front seat centres and the inspired rear load bay/seat-base/shag-pad perfectly encapsulates my interpretation of the project: organised complexity.
The same theme runs through Julio Lozano’s exterior – the repeated boomerang graphic that lays scale-like on its fenders, flicks into the window line, through the rocker panel, inside the lamp cans – doesn’t appear in any way forced or fussy. In the same way the bungee cord simply takes up its natural form under tension, so too do the myriad of feature lines, aping the adjustment systems found on shoes and bags. They also provide structure to the voluminous but wonderfully controlled bodyside surfacing.
Of course the interior material choice is directly inspired by outdoor sports equipment and the Captur is one beautifully-executed rucksack we’d love to throw on our backs and head off to explore the world.
Owen Ready
