This summer’s Art Center College of Design graduates should all be congratulated for assembling a strong body of work, individually, and a strong show collectively. While cars are obviously the stars, there was less emphasis on how people relate to cars as drivers.
Nearly all students explored alternative personal mobility solutions, running the gamut from foldable, powered scooters to yachts to self-propelled flying suits. One of the more common themes saw students erasing the lines between exterior and interior to link the experience of driving (or boating) with the surrounding environment, not simply an act occurring within it.
In some cases, exteriors served as blank canvases not restrained by current driving requirements (for instance, good outward visibility) presumably due to will-be-here-before-you-know-it autonomous vehicles. Interior solutions reflected this shift as well. Whereas nostalgia was still evident in several projects, completely gone were the retro-futuristic designs declining for so long. Is the future finally looking forward again?
Click on the images below for articles and photo galleries of this year’s graduate thesis projects.
