share on BufferThis Bachelor thesis by Oliver Elst from Pforzheim University was developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Germany.
Oliver’s goal was to find a combination of simplicity and lightness adopting a creative approach in terms of both visual appearance and innovative technology solutions.
To achieve this, he came up with a new sandwich material made of three different layers: the two outer ones give form to the exterior and the interior while the lightweight filling layer is used for cooling or lightning and is formed as an array of small spheres – a geometric shape that minimizes the surface/volume ratio of a body, thus further expressing the idea of “reduction”.
The overall goal of this configuration is to visually convey a sense of lightness to the observer, which is not always the case with conventional lightweight materials.
Another goal was to combine several functions within individual components in order “to tidy up” the vehicle.
The concept was awarded a special price at the “Lucky Strike Junior Design Award”, won the 5th place at the International Design Award “VDA-Best of International Design Graduates” and was shown at IAA 2013 during a special exhibition.
About the Designer
Oliver Elst is a 24 year old Transportation Design graduate from Pforzheim University. He completed an apprenticeship as an modell-mechanican at Adam Opel GmbH.
Contact Details:
- email: oliver_elst@web.de
- blog: oliver-elst.blogspot.de
(Image Courtesy: Oliver Elst for Car Body Design)
Comments