ALL IN THE DETAIL
Artist Louisa Schmolke gets lost in the minutiae of the CUPRA Formentor
The CUPRA Formentor states its intentions as soon as your eyes meet its sculptured form. It’s a car that’s been created to wear only the CUPRA badge – and break new ground for SUV-coupes.
“The first thing I noticed when I saw the CUPRA was its use of copper for the logo – extremely eye-catching and very different” says Glaswegian architectural illustrator and artist Louisa Schmolke. Formentor’s copper cues are continued in the 19-inch alloy wheels, Brembo brake callipers, plus interior stitching and trim. But great design has to offer more depth than pure love at first sight, as we learned in an architecture-themed road trip with Louisa across the stunning wilds of her Scottish homeland.
“I think good design is intuitive – not just functional, but engaging for the user, whether it’s a building, a website, or a car”, Louisa says. “The CUPRA reminds me of buildings I’ve visited and some I’ve designed in the way it’s sharp-cut to the edges.”
This technique of signalling a building’s purpose and usefulness with its very exterior design is one mirrored by the Formentor, which broadcasts a powerful, planted stance and a sure-footed sportiness through its taut haunches and fastback roof profile, before inviting you into its spacious and wellequipped cabin. “With any good design, the exterior should always grab your attention, but the interior has to function” Louisa notes.
Louisa’s trip brings us to across the moors to The Kelpies, twin 30-metre tall galvanised steel structures depicting shape-shifting water-borne spirits of Scottish folklore designed by sculptor Andy Scott to adorn the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal near Falkirk. As public art should, they’ve provoked debate, and gained acclaim by being unafraid to push the boundaries of sculpture.
Back on the road, Formentor bristles with the latest in automotive design technology: adaptive all-LED lighting gives the car an unmistakeable signature on the road, and guarantees safe and clear illumination of the path ahead after nightfall. Louisa agrees: “Technology these days is limitless, but I think that good design comes when you take your creativity and you take technology and you bring them together for a coherent design.”