Innehållsförteckning för No. 176 från AUTO & DESIGN

Attention to detail as an expressive means in its own right, essential and logical forms and graphic elements created by intersecting volumes instead of being mere applied decoration. This is how the new Polo took shape in a project beginning in February 2007 on a modified version of the P24 platform, which also underpins two other Volkswagen Group B segment offerings, the Skoda Fabia and the Seat Ibiza launched last year. The themes applied by the Volkswagen brand design team, headed by Klaus Bischoff, were those defined by creative director for the entire group Flavio Manzoni and already seen on the three Up concepts (previewing a new family of compact cars) and the Golf VI, albeit in different keys. This was a particularly intense project, and the style of the…

Anyone who has ever seen the intricate patterns on a computer chip will find that there is something familiar about the Mila EV. This is no coincidence – for its first electric car, the concept revealed to an enthusiastic reception, the Austrian brand Magna Steyr deliberately chose a theme that looks very much like an exposed electrical circuit to symbolise the flow of electric power. “We are working for the future”, says Andreas Wolfsgruber with barely concealed pride. The director of design for Magna Steyr had two goals for this project. The first was to “take another step, the fourth after the Mila, Mila Future and Mila Alpin, along the path to establish our creative identity and demonstrate the creativity of our design”. The other was to “visualise an electric…

I s Formula One still the greatest show on earth? “It was. Once.” Leonardo Fioravanti speaks with an almost pained expression. “Today even car enthusiasts fall asleep during a Grand Prix and only wake up if someone drives off with the fuel nozzle still attached, if there is a spectacular accident or if someone overtakes the world champion while he’s in the pits. The whole Formula is on an self-cannibalistic path to oblivion.” An engineer as well as a designer and stylist, Fioravanti has decided to give his own interpretation of Formula Uno, which he has named the LF1 in a fusion between F1 and his own initials. Presented at Geneva, the car is conceived around the 1800 cc four cylinder turbo engine format proposed for the 2012 season. “The…

After the success of the Qashqai fusion formula in the mid sized segment, Nissan is playing the crossover card once again, but this time in a more compact vehicle conceived for a generally younger demographic. The all new production model is still shrouded in secrecy, the Qazana show car presented at Geneva previews a few of its styling themes and hints at one of the directions that Nissan will be pursuing for its products in the near future. The formal approach is, to say the least, startling, with emphasised volumes and provocative forms verging on the limit of the disproportionate: with a towering waistline and wheelarches set off against a very narrow greenhouse, and a large, robust bonnet contrasted by a tapered tail. To gain some insight into the singular…

The Be Bop moniker, with its cool jazz connotations, has been chosen by Renault to denote an “anti-stress” variant of the new Kangoo, in tune with the low-key character of many of the French marque’s products. Measuring 3.9 metres in length, the car was developed on the basis of the Kangoo Compact Concept presented in 2007 at Frankfurt, maintaining some of the latter’s aesthetics and the concept of a cabin-lounge surrounded by glass, with four separate seats. Only one trim level is offered, but it is packed with features such as alloy wheels, climate control, a radio/CD MP3 player sound system and ESC stability control. The 1.6 litre petrol and 1.5 litre dCi turbodiesel, available with or without particulate filter, both produce the same power output of 105 bhp. Set…

Instead of a purely creative exercise, the first year students of the new Transportation Design MA course at IED Turin were given a concrete project to work on, which will soon be put into reality. The project was conducted together with the Italian brand DR Motor which, like its founder and president, former racing driver Massimo Di Risio, has origins in motorsports. This was an unusual and courageous choice for DR Motor, which entrusted the young students with the task of designing a car that also defines a new identity for the brand. The challenge for the brand is to launch a new sports car based on the chassis and package of the Saleen S7 and styled by the aspiring young designers in the very near future – in 2010…

“Well, it wasn’t as bad as I feared, but not as strong as I’d hoped.” For many who attended this year’s Geneva motor show that comment at the end of the second press preview day pretty well summed up the event. Most people present were a bit less morose and not quite as apparently panic-stricken as they had been in Detroit just two months earlier. Perhaps it was simply the approach of Spring that cheered them. It was noticeable, though, that the number of industry executives and international journalists were many fewer than is usually the case at this very popular event. According to the organizers, public attendance was down almost ten percent as well. True, there were many new product introductions, including the newest E-Class Mercedes that is at…

Any new Mercedes-Benz is a milestone in automotive history for the simple reason that it comes from the world’s oldest car maker. But within Mercedes circles, it is the E-class which carries on the German design tradition more than any other model from the Stuttgart firm because it has been the backbone of the range for more than five decades. The new E-class design concept also applies to the new coupe version which was shown at the Geneva show together with the new saloon. In addition to the overall new E-class design themes the coupe features an additional aesthetic attractiveness through its similarity with the elegant silhouette of the CLS sports saloon. Who else but Gorden Wagener, head of Daimler Design and responsible for the new E-class could better answer…

Today, dimensions, forms and materials are clear indicators of the efforts made by carmakers to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of their vehicles. But what’s going on beneath the bodywork? On the technical front, the industry is working at fever pitch to find answers to the problem, leaving no possible alternative unexplored. Fiat Powertrain has just set the bar a little higher for engine technology with its new Multiair electrohydraulic variable intake valve timing system, which enables dynamic control of the combustion process in each individual cylinder for optimised performance, tractability, economy and emissions. While developed for petrol engines, the technology may be applied to all internal combustion engines, regardless of the fuel used. This genuinely innovative solution is comparable in importance to the advent of common rail injection…

When it was presented as a concept car at Detroit in 2006, the Kia Soul stood out primarily for its unconventional style and architecture. Developed by Kia’s Californian design centre, the Soul adopts a hatchback crossover formula that looks rather like a toned down version of certain deliberately boxy Japanese offerings (such as the Toyota-Scion xB, sold as the Daihatsu Materia in Europe) that enjoy a particular popularity among younger drivers in Japan and California. Three years later, after the debut of a production version that has remained remarkably faithful to the original concept, the Soul proves to have been ahead of the times in a number of respects. With the decline of the pure MPV and the full sized SUV in the urban scenario, the Soul offers an intelligent…

Contrasting creative expressions conceived for very diverse situations yet sharing a common theme: the Seat brand. These were the end-of-course projects for the “Màster en Disseny de Vehicles de Transport” presented at Barcelona on February 26th and produced by the eleven students taking part in the year long course at Elisava - Escola Superior de Disseny. Some imagined futuristic or even science fiction scenarios while others looked toward today’s market and others still explored a more or less near future in which the vehicles symbolising modern society – such as the powerful, bold and unstoppable SUV and the practical, economical and versatile city car – continue to dominate the car market. The students worked individually or in small groups during the second semester. However, instead of being guided by academics…

To fully appreciate the creations of Ruspa Officine, one needs to view them from a perspective of design in its natural relationship with industry. Over seventy years of the company’s history (recently celebrated by the book and exhibition titled Materia, Pensiero, Prodotto), this relationship has led it from humble beginnings as a metal construction business in Turin in 1937 to the creator of design-focused products specialised in the automotive sector it is today. The challenge the company faces today, accepted in full by third generation descendants of its founders, is to gain self-sufficiency in the market by making the transition from supplier to producer, while continuing to offer proprietary innovative solutions which, if required, may also be automated and tailored to the needs of the client and end user. “The…

A design of such surprising simplicity that the first impression it elicits is that there is nothing particularly special about it. But then you start to notice the strong proportions and the impeccable execution of the surfaces, the elegance of the detailing and the logical yet original way in which the volumes interface. The new Polo is, in short, a typical Walter de’ Silva design: no special effects, a remarkable balance and a passion for form in its purest expression which, nonetheless, has been defined according to precise rules governing a brand identity that has been delineated down to the tiniest detail by de’ Silva himself and his design team. It is just one of those cars that you appreciate a little more and find a little more convincing each…

The third chapter in the Iosis saga takes things a step further: in terms of how it evolves kinetic design – a genuine renaissance for Ford Europe’s image – and in its dynamic interpretation of the MPV genre, taking the same approach adopted by the earlier S Max. The Iosis Max is a concept in every sense of the word, a concentrated ensemble of forward looking ideas. Undoubtedly, its forms give a hint of what the future C-Max will look like, which will be unveiled during the second half of the year and is due to reach showrooms in early 2010. But it doesn’t seem as close to the final result as, for example, the Verve did to the Fiesta. It remains true, rather, to the nature of the Iosis…

After the Volta and Quaranta concepts, Namir is the third chapter in the exploration of the hybrid theme begun by Italdesign Giugiaro in 2004. The reason why the two seater coupé celebrating Italian creativity at Geneva has an Arabic name (Namir means tiger) is in tribute to Kamal Siddiqi, the president of the British company Frazer-Nash which was Giugiaro’s technological partner in the project. And this record breaking sports car (with a top speed of over 300 Km/h and a 0-100 Km/h time of just 3.5 seconds: no other hybrid comes close) is truly worthy of the name tiger, as it exudes elegance, power and aggressiveness. The car is a study in harmony between style and engineering, with perfectly matched proportions and a harmonious contrast between the accentuated angles of…

While Hyundai presented the car as a concept at Geneva, in reality, the ixonic is an almost definitive preview of the model due to replace the Tucson in 2010. The compact SUV measuring 4.40 metres long, 1.85 wide and 1.65 tall is more than just a new model, it is a new step towards the future of the Korean brand. The project for the car began in Germany in spring 2008, at the Rüsshelsheim style centre, while the model was fabricated last November by Vercarmodel in Turin. This remarkably short timeframe demonstrates just how seriously Hyundai is looking to the future, with a renewed image and environmental awareness its key objectives. Under the original, dynamic and sculpted skin of the ix-onic lies an environmentally friendly (just 149 g/Km of CO2)…

The old adage “small is beautiful” has never been more fitting for the automotive world, especially when compactness is complemented by attractive styling, comfort, versatility and environmental awareness. It also perfectly sums up the new Suzuki Alto, a model that confirms the compact segment vocation of the Hamamatsu based brand, which happens to be celebrating its centenary this year. The car develops on the themes introduced with the A Star concept presented in 2007 at Geneva, and was designed at the inhouse style centre by a team headed by Tatsumi Fukunaga. Produced in India and measuring just 3.5 metres in length, this is the entry level model for the Suzuki’s European range. The choice of versions available is sparse to say the least: five doors, two trim levels only –…

A collective work — a labor of love, really — by five young Renault designers led by Laurent Negroni, Speedbirds is a recapitulation of the wonderful Schneider Cup seaplane races held from 1913 to 1931, when the British Supermarine S6B entry retired the trophy forever, along with a fantasy projection of what might happen if the races were to be held again from 2013 to 2021. The historical-period pencil drawings by Negroni are amazing in their accuracy and sensitivity. Entries from France, Italy, the United States and Great Britain had considerable influence on car design, as they were of an aerodynamic finesse that inspired designers all around the world at the time. the “speed bumps” on the hood of the Fifties Mercedes 300 SL and Chevrolet Corvettes were derived directly…

“Mankind must not leave footprints in the sand that the wind cannot erase” is the underlying principle for the work of Gabriele Centazzo, designer and managing director of Valcucine. The Pordenone based company founded in 1980 has turned environmental awareness into a business strategy: from the production of kitchens, conceived and built in keeping with the requisites of sustainable design, to communication, which is always based on messages that not only promote their products but also encourage environmentally aware behaviour. Centazzo’s approach to sustainability is based on both qualitative principles – concerning ethics, beauty and a respect for the environment and the individual – and quantitative precepts – related to the physical attributes of the kitchen as a product. Today’s economic crisis and the decaying global environmental have demonstrated the…