Formafantasma for Lexus

A meeting between duo Formafantasma and this Japanese company prompted a new way of visualising and explaining research into hydrogen power. #MDW2016

Eight months have passed between their first contact on 14 August last and Design Week, a period Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin describe as intense to say the least. It was, however, worth all the effort and now they are presenting their first project for a complex space at Milan Design Week.

Un’installazione per Lexus — Lexus, view of the exhibition

“You have to draw the award, the concept car and a food intervention together,” explains Andrea and “for the first year, we suggested not displaying the concept car but placing the focus on the research and hydrogen technology instead”.

They have translated this complex technology into a kinetic light installation formed of four moving sculptures. “We also asked the chef to work on the concept of water, which is key to hydrogen cars,” they add. Pieces rest on a platform painted with a strongly reflective pink resin which brings a sense of liquidity to the whole installation.

“You usually show a sculpture of the concept car but we wanted to display its new features, the technology and the high standard of craftwork, seen primarily in the mechanical and manual painting of 15-16 different layers”.

A third part of the exhibition design is given over to tradition and the history of the company, which started out producing fabrics. “We recreated the form of the concept car with 2,000, or perhaps more, hand-painted elastic threads”, explain the designers. This sculpture is also kinetic as the threads are drawn between two platforms which are raised and lowered, stretching them and then allowing them to fall slack. What are their initial impressions of this Design Week? “This year, we have seen even more collaborations from outside the usual sector. As well as cars, there’s sport, fashion … There are two comments to be made. On the one hand, it brings new opportunities for working with different companies but, on the other, with so many designers around, there is less room in the design world”.