Car as Art by Mazda
Kodo was at the heart of the Mazda Milan display. The Hiroshima firm utilised the occasion to explore its design philosophy rooted in old Japan through the relationship between the art of making and the product.
European design director Kevin Rice admits it is really refreshing to see how other people view Kodo. ‘It is our DNA and we have been pushing it to its limit.’
The exhibition space in Milan’s Brera design district was dedicated to examining a series of one-off objects that convey creative engineering and the values of intricate craftsmanship.
The foam within the long sofa, designed in collaboration with Milan’s Setsu and Shinobu Ito, required milling in a way that even the Italian expert found challenging. The structure is made of red wood and the natural untreated red from the material reveals itself subtly, without show.
The bike frame is beaten from a steel panel at Mazda’s Californian design studio, the hand-sewn leather saddle features the same stitching as the upcoming MX-5’s upholstery, and the red accent is a nod to Kodo.
Elsewhere, two unassuming small objects represent another side of Kodo. Kodoki is a copper vase by studio Gyokusendo where artisans work in the ancient tsuiki method by beating the ingot into a thick sheet by hand, adding colour through a reaction between tin plate and compounds taken from nature.
Similarly the Shiraito lacquered box by Hiroshima artisan Kinjo-Ikkokusai uses the cho-shitsu technique so that the trickling paint representing waterfalls are painstakingly built up by individually applying tiny flakes of eggshell to the lacquer base.
On a screen we watch these objects come to life over months of painstaking labour. ‘There is something very spiritual in the way they work,’ smiles Mazda director of design Ikuo Maeda.
Objects by Ford
In the main Milan Fairgrounds hall, Ford unveiled a range of non-car products designed by its global team directed by Moray Callum. The boat, guitar, table football, floating lamp, wifi speaker and two interpretations for lounge areas displayed here were inspired by the interior of the new GT supercar.
‘We’re taking the concepts and philosophy behind the Ford GT’s interior design and applying it to other products,’ says Ford global design chief Moray Callum. He notes that the car’s sweeping organic shape and aerodynamic, lightweight carbon material will influence the marque’s future interior language.
Favilla, To Every Light a Voice formed the second half of the display. Created in collaboration with Attilio Stocchi, this immersive installation unfolds inside two large boxes. The first by the Italian architect examines the science of light amid a dazzling, reflective show; the second by Ford’s in-house animation studio, offers an engaging product experience revealing the marque’s design process.
Callum’s mission is to expose the public to some of the thinking that goes on in his studios, behind closed walls. He says it also allows his team an opportunity ‘to go beyond the everyday work and get exposure to new ideas that will inspire future designs’.
