Lexus announced details of this year’s participation in the world’s leading event for the vanguard of contemporary design event―Milan Design Week. Since its first participation in 2005, Lexus has created compelling, immersive experiences for visitors at Milan Design Week, partnering with leading talent which has included Philippe Nigro, Neri Oxman, Sou Fujimoto, and Rhizomatics among others to create new works of design inspired by Lexus’ values and vision.
This year’s event, Lexus: Sparks of Tomorrow, will present a trio of design explorations, all inspired by Lexus’ human-centered, future-oriented approach to design. Compelling and engaging, Lexus: Sparks of Tomorrow, will include an immersive installation by award-winning architect and designer Germane Barnes with lighting design studio Aqua Creations, new prototypes from LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2022 finalists, and work by students at London’s Royal College of art envisioning a more sustainable future.
Lexus has partnered with Germane Barnes to create a new iteration of the ON/ installation unveiled for Design Miami/ 2021, this time collaborating with Aqua Creations to highlight a commitment to expert craftsmanship and high quality materiality that is central to Lexus’ ethos. This version of the installation, debuting in Milan, takes the RZ as the central inspiration, the first dedicated battery-electric model in the Lexus line-up. The installation is centered around a precisely-to-scale, three-dimensional sculptural realization of the RZ, rendered in steel and illuminated; the frame of the car glows and is suspended just above the ground, a vision of a more sustainable future coming into focus.
Concurrent with this installation in Milan, the wireframe model of the LF-Z from Design Miami/ 2021 will be on view at Lexus’ luxury brand experience space, INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO, bringing the Lexus’ vision of an electrified, carbon-neutral future into focus worldwide.
Building on this principle of a concept coming to life, the installation will feature Aqua Creations’ Code 130° collection of colourful pendant lights illuminating the vehicle, which add a delicate, material, and joyful quality to the immersive installation. Shifting from the futuristic lighting scheme featured in Miami, the lighting from Aqua Creations creates an elegant, physical embodiment of electricity that exemplifies a shared commitment to principles of design excellence evident in the expertly crafted RZ.
ON/ creates an environment that is designed to engage viewers of all ages, providing an experience that is both visually dynamic and interactive while offering an inviting space to recharge and reflect. The installation will be accompanied by an adjacent lounge area featuring the new ToTeM lighting collection by Aqua Creations, providing discrete areas for rest, repose, and recharging―reflecting the brand’s commitment to the principle of omotenashi (exceptional hospitality).
Visitors will also have the opportunity to explore the work of the six finalists in the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2022, promising talent whose fresh ideas receive a high-profile cross-media introduction on an established platform respected by the global creative community. Finalists were chosen for their original solutions contributing to a better tomorrow, while articulating the Lexus brand’s three core principles―Anticipate, Innovate, and Captivate; while seamlessly enhancing the happiness of all.
Finalists include Charlotte Böhning & Mary Lempres (Dual USA – Germany and Dual USA – Norway / Based in USA), Wondaleaf (Malaysia), Team Dunamis (Nigeria), Poh Yun Ru (Singapore), Kristil & Shamina (Russia), and Kou Mikuni (Japan). Now in its tenth year, the award celebrates up-and-coming creative talent from around the world. This year’s Grand Prix winner, selected by a panel comprising renowned creative visionaries Paola Antonelli, Anupama Kundoo, Bruce Mau and Simon Humphries, will be announced on May 12.
Lexus’ presentation will also include work by students, representing a future generation of international design talent, that present radical new luxury transport concepts in a creative programme commissioned by Lexus, “2040: The Soul of Future Premium”. This exploration of how luxury transport might evolve towards the middle of the 21st century was launched in September 2021 by Lexus in partnership with the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London, one of the world’s most prestigious and influential centres for art and design research and learning.
The challenge was to explore new vehicle architectures to meet changes in European city life, society and demographics and to re-imagine the role the Lexus brand might play in the region’s mobility landscape beyond the next two decades. It inspired original work from 20 postgraduate students at the RCA’s Intelligent Mobility Design Centre, an interdisciplinary centre of design and research excellence.
