Lexus and Milan Design Week have never been just a drive-thru affair. The Japanese luxury automaker’s presence at the global design event stretches back nearly 20 years. Starting from 2005 with their first Lexus L-finesse exhibition, Lexus has marked the annual convergence of design industry luminaries as an opportune moment to express the automaker’s design philosophy. Unencumbered by the purpose-driven industry, the brand steers their Milan Design Week installations memorably closer toward art rather than automotive. And now they’re back for the 2024 edition of Milan Design Week with “Time,” a two-fold exhibition incorporating the next-generation Lexus Future Zero-Emission Catalyst (Lexus LF-ZC) electric vehicle concept as its centerpiece.
This being Milan Design Week it’s no surprise Lexus took the opportunity to invest in a pair of technology-focused installations exploring themes venturing well beyond “how the era of software-defined hardware will infinitely expand the possibilities for personally tailored experiences, allowing future design to seamlessly anticipate and evolve with each individual.” Lexus invited not just one designer, but two to conjure an inside-outside exhibition around this timely proposition.
Outside, Marjan van Aubel’s “8 Minutes and 20 Seconds“ depicts a true-to-size silhouette of the Lexus LF-ZC concept car made from sheets of solar cells affixed to transparent, colorful acrylic sheets. Van Aubel’s installation isn’t a wholly new production, but rather a remix. Originally produced as a singular sculptural installation at the ICA Miami in 2023, van Aubel created a new iteration for Milan, reimagining the premise of the car silhouette, illuminated by a glowing base depicting the battery that powers the vehicle, while 16 of van Aubel’s Sunne lamps arranged in a circle act as the sun itself.
The entire installation responds to the presence of visitors with changing color, light, and sound, including an array of acrylic panel “trees” surrounding the vehicle silhouette. Each tree produces a unique sound, triggered by visitors’ movements as they walk through.
The indoor exhibit “BEYOND THE HORIZON” by Tangent founder Hideki Yoshimoto is an audio-visual landscape helmed by a pair of LF-ZC electric vehicles spaced between a lineup of monolithic pillars. Complemented by the music of Keiichiro Shibuya, the light changing space operates as an atmospheric showcase of color, texture, and sound, each reflecting off the exhibition hall floors to dramatic effect.
To see more of Lexus’ future concept cars, visit lexus.com.
