DESIGN FILE

THE FUTURE OF CAR DESIGN IS BRIGHT AND HANDS-FREE. SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE RIDE

We spoke to Rem D Koolhaas, designer for United Nude about its ‘Lo Res’ concept car, and the future of car design.

Describe the Lo-Res Car and the concept behind its creation?

The Lo Res Car was one of the product designs we experimented with as part of the entire Lo Res project. The project is about re-interpreting and re-designing the same object over and over again while lowering the 3D resolution. We would design and re-design each object in eight steps. The original car we used as a starting point was the Lamborghini Countach designed by the legendary Marcello Gandini at Bertone in the early 70s.

The car looks very different from any other car. Why is that?

We took the liberty to ignore the rules of cars. While ignoring the rules it becomes much easier to create something that doesn’t look like anything else. I didn’t want to have any visible details really, so we left them out: no doors, no mirrors, no wheels visible. The windows are also so dark that the entire car looks like a solid object when actually, it’s a glass box. The car has two in-line seats and its interior is deliberately under-designed. To enter the car the top opens, the motor is electric and the top speed is unknown.

What was the goal of the car project?

The Lo Res Car was a very personal project for me as it was based on a childhood dream. From the beginning until the end we ran it as a side-project, which means there was no schedule and no budget. The project took us many years and was often on hold. We are now building a second prototype and are selling them to collectors made to order.

What will be the transportation of the future?

Cars will continue to play the leading role for personal transportation, but in most cases we won’t be driving ourselves. I think driverless cars and driverless Uber taxi services will take over. There will be fewer cars as each car will be shared and used more. All cars will be electric, as combustion engines will simply become abandoned from cities due to health and environmental reasons. Find out more at unitednude.com.