Everyone is a minimalist these days, but beyond being a handy catch-all for pared back aesthetics, what does the term mean for car design? Are designers sacrificing ornament at the altar of functionality as embodied by touchscreens?
Minimalism is everywhere. How can you tell? After all, this is a design language that, rather like Miles Davis’ calculated omissions, makes virtue of what you don’t see: pared-back interiors, lines so clean they are barely distinguishable, and touchscreens. Lots of touchscreens. The term has become a handy catchall for designers frame design as a reductive process, is readily deployed in all manner of communications – from press releases to promo videos. Ubiquity dilutes meaning, or at least diminishes its significance. But how should we interpret a term that is so readily used, and passed over without a moment’s thought.
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As the industry charges into the future, an appetite for classic aesthetics remains. But is it lazy to draw inspiration from old icons – or with new brands coming out of the woodwork, should retro design be celebrated?
A Konzepthaus report explores how car designers at various levels and locations are adapting to the new way of working
Curated by architect Norman Foster, Motion: Autos, Art, Architecture at the Guggenheim Bilbao is an visually stunning and elegiac tribute to the golden age of the automobile
