French designer Ora-Ïto has designed a spaceship and a sedan chair for car manufacturer Citroën.
The Mutation project was presented in Milan last month.
The two objects, named UFO and Evo Mobil, have design features based on the styling of contemporary Citroën cars.
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Here is some more information from Citroën:
Mutation Exhibition
Milan 2011
On the edge of the hypothesis and the contemporary art, this hybrid object is based on the fulfillment of child’s dream with an obvious commitment for the ecology.
In the vocabulary of Ora-Ïto, we find a real assertion expressing and realizing the imagination. Inspired by the fluid curves of the Citroën « Traction Avant » monocoque structure and based on his designer’s competences, Ora-Ïto reflects on the ergonomics of the interior of the first mobile module.
He has worked on the codes, the DNA and the philosophy of the car industry to modernize it with the possibilities and the existing technologies.
Associated to the research and innovation department of dynastic Citroën, he has developed a surprising and unexpected sculptures joining all the parameters and the technologies appropriate for the universe of car manufacturers.
Baptized Evo Mobil, he creates a monotypic kind, which possesses only single specie.
The term « genetic transformation » is used to indicate an irreversible modification of the genetic and hereditary information. If the transformation arrives up to cells then, it is passed on to the descendants of the mutant individual.
This change can get a selective advantage. This is the base of the evolution’s process.
Ora-Ïto has naturally imagined other modules to join the initial project. A continuity of the imagination allowing to multiply actions and give another reflection to « Evo Mobil ». He has created « UFO » which is inspired by an iconic car from Citroën.
The DS model commonly used by the president is now enrolled into the « genetic transformations » from Ora-Ïto artistic vision that play on the strong and iconic details.
The vehicle is based on the future of transport mixed with one of the most famous cars in the world.
UFO sculpture allies the dream to the formal, the future to the technology. The idea to work with several entities allows all the « genetic transformations » to spread a universal message to the car industry through his artistic vision and new directions never investigated before.
See also:
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| MINI Rocketman Concept | Artikcar by Ben Wilson | Vision EfficientDynamics by BMW |
…sure wish we could see how people actually fit in those those cool looking things.
Name one horse & buggy company that successfully made the transition to motorized cars.
…Exactly :P
Fisher… ever heard "Body By Fisher"? I will never forget seeing the coach logo on the threshold to my dad's classic cars. They built car bodies, which you could argue are not cars, however they were coach builders after all. I'm almost certain you could just look into "coachbuilders" and find at least a couple more examples.
-dan
Ha! I stand corrected, sir :)
We could also argue that BMW is an example of a company that used to be involved in one type of industry and then made the transition to other type of products —although this wasn't exactly by choice! ;)
“”The two objects, named UFO and Evo Mobil, have design features based on the styling of contemporary Citroën cars.”"
This is partially refuted by the design blah blah that follows (“Traction Avant”, ” iconic”, “DS model commonly used by the president”) but the contemporary Citroën models aren’t so special anymore, save perhaps for their concept cars.
Don't know about the practicality, but it's so beautifully & stylishly done… Projects of this kind turn an industrial design from the rational craft into the real art…
Thats a lot of (poorly worded) jargon appropriated from the evolutionary design field.
But did the designer actually use an evolutionary system to produce these things? My guess is not – they would probably be more unusual and interesting if he had.
…. and to add to that, you’ve goto question the value of actually producing design objects more suited to the set of a science fiction film than a corporate podium in an otherwise beautiful Milanese plaza.. A guess there are always a few geeks around to appreciate it.
Looks like a spaceship, but Ora Ito designs are always interesting.
Bla Bla Bla. this was a waist of time, money and energy.
honestly i never understood the fuzz around this guy…
Nothing he did seems to work…
He may not have done things that work but he is trying. that's how you get something that works well in the end.
I personally think designers should also focus on the content as much as the container. the fact that no images of the interior are shown is an indication that there's nothing to see.
if you have a slim WAIST then you may fit in this thing. But this is not a WASTE of time.
70's retro look. not the future!
This is so Syd Mead but 30-40 years later… so the Evomobil needs two people to carry it? That's an even older concept and I am not sure I like it.
I read an article on this project in another publication, and, as I was also originally skeptical, it helped to clear up my understanding of the design intention. The article explained that the designer was exploring ideas of mutation in the sense of a "what if" scenario where motor engines and auto-mechanics were never developed, and as a result, how would primitive means of conveyance look today with no engines but contemporary means of digital design and fabrication? I associate a sort of time-line of personal transportation where one item in the middle is removed, disrupting the sequence and forging an entirely new path of design development over the course of history….
This is interesting to look at, but I have to admit I did not follow the narrative or description at all, nor do I get the concept behind the design. I also would have like to see pictures that illustrated how it works and its application it the field instead of just flashy pics of the forms. However, thanks Dezeen for the eye candy, it certainly is intriguing to look at.
disgruntled: There would be room for people were it not for the brush and accompanying 245 shades of blush awaiting inside.
Where is the flux capacitor located?
Haute Couture.
Wow, this is pure art!
Apart from some blah bla bla text, the projects has amazing sculptural qualities nicely balanced with hints from the originating citroen DS! It's rare to see creativity on this level in the field of transportation nowadays. Car industry should learn from this project as it shows evolutionary progress yet strongly connecting to brand history…
Well, back to reality and to the boring cars of today…
He designed an armchair which I liked very much. One of the few current designers with a great sense of perspective and balance.
These could be Daft Punk's cars
Retro styling done well, but nothing we haven't already seen in a Speilberg movie.
To see the full beauty of this you have to be familiar with the design works at Citroen. It draws upon the shapes, lighting and emotion of their visionary models such as the ID19, DS23 and SM and then stretches them a little further into the future. I think its a worthwhile exercise by an outsider to give Citroen a new perspective on their past that they may have become too familiar with -a "see the forest not the trees" exercise. I think it is very good.
Wow, that’s a lot of pretension.
two words- daft punk
Well.. his shoes are amazing!
bravo for the artistic statement!
for me it just shows what modern cars are missing: serious style and glamour all packed in an expression that says QUALITY!…does anyone understand what i try to say? ;-)
Great sort of retro futuristic design! Loving it
At long last a worthy sequel to the goddess. It captures what is unique and timeless about the DS and shows what it could look like in a contemporary successor. Sure, it might be retro, but then, wasn't the DS always sufficiently futuristic to offset that? If there are any cars deserving retro versions of themselves, look at the three that have been done so far (Beetle, Mini, Cinquecento) – there are few as iconic as Citroen's DS or even their 2CV.