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MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2025

LEXUS “BLACK BUTTERFLY” TECHNOLOGY

Lexus’ “Black Butterfly” technology inspires immersive installations at Milan Design Week 2025.

  • International creatives produce new works inspired by Lexus’ Black Butterfly in-car interface concept 
  • “A-Un”, an interactive installation by SIX Inc. and STUDEO, also draws on Aun no kokyo, the traditional Japanese concept of breathing in harmony
  • “Discover Together”, a new Lexus co-creating initiative featuring works by up-and-coming talent
  • Installations to be presented by Lexus at Milan Design Week 2025, April 8 to 13 

 

The Black Butterfly, a dual-interface cockpit control system developed by Lexus for its LF-Z Electrified concept car, has provided inspiration for international creators to develop immersive new installations at the cutting edge of art and design. 

These exciting interpretations of how future technologies will bring man, machine and mobility closer together will be showcased by Lexus at Milan Design Week 2025, one of the world’s premiere events for global creatives. The exhibits will be on public view at the Superstudio Più, from April 8 to 13.

“A-Un” is an interactive installation that connects intuitively with the viewer, combining the principles of the Black Butterfly with the traditional Japanese concept of Aun no kokyo – breathing in harmony. It has been developed by Lexus in collaboration with the Tokyo-based creative agency SIX and the STUDEO design studio. It presents a new dimension in seamless communication between humans and mobility and captures a spirit of mutual understanding through perfectly synchronised interactions.

Lexus’ Milan Design Week presence also includes “Discover Together”, produced by up-and-coming creative talents from Bascule Inc. in Japan, Northeastern University in the USA and the Lexus Designer Team, from Japan. For more than a decade, Lexus has supported innovative creators striving to help shape a better future world and society through the Lexus Design Award. Building on this legacy, Lexus has launched the “Discover Together” initiative. This project emphasises co-creation and reinterprets and expresses the new possibilities presented by the Black Butterfly cockpit control interfaces.  Through their original works, the creators demonstrate the different chemistry and experience that can occur when humans interact with the Black Butterfly.

Lexus has been an active participant in Milan Design Week over many years, using the opportunity to demonstrate its challenge to the status quo in the luxury automotive space, pushing boundaries in both products and services to create amazing experiences for its customers.

Exhibition information

 Dates

 Press day: April 7 (Monday); public days: April 8 to 13 (Sunday)

 Venue

 Superstudio Più

 Address

 Via Tortona, 27, 20144 – Milan, Italy

 Exhibitions  

 A-Un Installation / Discover Together artwork exhibition in collaboration with Bascule Inc., Northeastern University and Lexus Designer Team

 Organiser  

 Lexus International

"A-UN" CREATOR PROFILES

SIX Inc.

Takeshi Nozoe

Takeshi Nozoe founded the creative company SIX Inc. in 2013. As creative director, Nozoe takes on the challenge of creating new forms of communication and real-world experiences with brands both in Japan and overseas, including Toyota GR and Lexus. He has worked on a number of projects that have expanded the boundaries of expression through the fusion of technology, including spatial expression using 1,000 drones; the music video “Obsession for Smoothness”, created in collaboration with OK Go; and the Space Balloon Project, a real-time interaction with the stratosphere. To date, he has received more than 100 international creative awards, including a Cannes Lions Gold Award and a New York Festival Gold Awards. SIX’s original product, the COTODAMA Lyric speaker, is sold in 44 countries worldwide, demonstrating high recognition for its innovation in product development.

https://sixinc.jp/

STUDEO

Tatsuki Ikezawa

A graduate of the Department of Design Informatics at Musashino Art University, Ikezawa founded the creative studio, STUDEO in 2020. Approaching brand strategy from the perspective of art direction, he seamlessly integrates concept development, product design including packaging and logo design, and the planning of communication tools such as commercials, graphics, and spatial design to create a cohesive brand world. In 2018, Ikezawa held a solo exhibition BEYOND THE CRAFT in New York and, in 2024, participated as a designer in The Trio Asia Posters at the Mexico International Poster Biennial.

His works have been recognised with numerous awards, including the Tokyo ADC Award, JAGDA New Designer Award, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, ONE SHOW, and New York ADC. He is a member of the Tokyo Art Directors Club and the Japan Graphic Designers Association.

https://www.studeo.co.jp/

"DISCOVER TOGETHER" CREATOR PROFILES

Japan

Bacsule Inc.

Bascule Inc. is a creative team based in Tokyo, known for extracting reality and stories hidden in various data to create emotional experiences. Centred on their unique approach called DATA-TAINMENT, they engage in a wide array of fields including advertising, events, sports, art, urban development, and outer space, aiming to create new experiential values in which everyone can participate.

https://bascule.co.jp/

*Members pictured (from left) Tomoyuki Iwabuchi, Masayoshi Boku, Sakiko Osawa 

USA

Northeastern University

Under the direction of Paolo Ciuccarelli, head of Northeastern University’s Center for Design, Chloe Prock, Jasmine Yiming Sun, and Elizabeth McCaffrey form a team of designers and researchers exploring the wide intersections of data visualisation, experience design, and creative practice. With expertise spanning immersive media, computational data visualisation, UI/UX design, and design research, their work bridges the gaps between emerging technologies, human-centred design, and poetic computation to create engaging and thought-provoking experiences.

https://camd.northeastern.edu/center-for-design/

*Members pictured (from left) Chloe Prock, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Jasmine Yiming Sun, Elizabeth McCaffrey

Japan

Lexus Designer Team

Members of the Design Team at Toyota Motor Corporation have challenged new expressions and experiences by reinterpreting the Black Butterfly. As a mentor, Takabatake works as a Concept and Vision Designer, planning future visions and concepts targeting all products, including experiences for both Lexus and Toyota brands. Designer Yuri Tamura began her career as a CMF designer and now explores innovative designs that challenge existing concepts across all genres. She focuses on capturing human emotions and experiences from new perspectives, aiming to deliver inspiration to many.

*Members pictured (from left) Moto Takabatake and Yuri Tamura 

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