Lexus has today unveiled its new exhibition ‘Time’ at Milan Design Week, the world’s largest international design event. The show, featuring original installations by international artists, is on public view until April 21 in the Art Point and Art Garden at Superstudio Più in Tortona, Milan’s world-respected creative district.
‘Time’ captures Lexus’ vision of how the application of software and energy innovations will help the cars of the future deliver new possibilities for customers and enable luxury to co-exist with carbon neutrality.
The exhibition features work by two designers inspired by the Lexus LF-ZC, a concept model that explores the possibilities for a next generation battery electric vehicle (BEV). ‘Beyond the Horizon’ by Hideki Yoshimoto and his Tangent studio captures a world of future mobility that
evolves through software innovation. Produced in collaboration with musician and composer Keiichiro Shibuya, the piece immerses the visitor in light and sound. ‘8 Minutes and 20 Seconds’ is a new work by Marjan van Aubel which incorporates solar design and technology in pursuit of a carbon-neutral future.
Simon Humphries, Lexus Chief Branding Officer, said: “Lexus has always challenged the conventions of automotive luxury, working to expand the horizons of its products and services to create experiences that surpass its customers’ expectations. ’Time’ comes from our belief that experience and time are inseparable concepts. Time is not something that simply passes; it’s the starting point of all special experiences. Lexus has a firmly human-centred philosophy, and we believe that providing people with unique experiences in an age when technology will allow cars to anticipate and evolve with the customer begins with exploring the relationship between people and time itself.”
‘Beyond the Horizon’ is an interactive installation inspired by a future where the personal experiential value of mobility can be tailored to the individual, by constantly updating a vehicle’s software so that it transcends its traditional role as a means of transportation through a digital dialogue with the user.
The immersive installation features a line of two-metre-high sculptures. Although these seem uniform in appearance, each one emits unique lighting effects to create different atmospheres. The LF-ZC is positioned at the centre of the work, symbolising innovation and future mobility.
Designer Hideki Yoshimoto blends state-of-the-art technology with time-honoured Japanese craftsmanship in a giant (four metres high by 30 metres wide) projection screen showing ever-changing vistas of the horizon. Its material draws on the 1,500-year heritage of Echizen ‘washi’ paper, familiar from the screens found in traditional Japanese homes. Here, it is made using bamboo fibres, referencing how this sustainable material is featured in the LF-ZC’s interior and also Lexus’ famous respect for and application of master craftsmanship skills.
Keiichiro Shibuya has composed an original sound installation, ‘Abstract Music’, to complement the exhibition concept. Sound images are generated in real time through programming a vast amount of sound data, moved around 31 speakers installed throughout the venue. No two moments are the same, as the sounds endlessly evolve. The changing of the horizon from dawn to dusk, with the LF-ZC as the guide to the future, combines with the sculptures and music to create a personalised and immersive experience.
This work expresses Lexus’ commitment to advancing innovation in mobility by celebrating the potential of energy and software together with the aim for carbon neutrality and luxury to co-exist. The installation features a to-scale representation of the LF-ZC concept and uses solar power captured by organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells and stored in built-in batteries. The aim is to reflect our potential synergy with the natural environment, making the visitor an active participant in this vision of the future.
Named for the time it takes light to reach the earth from the sun, ‘8 Minutes and 20 Seconds’ imagines the car positioned among holographic trees and a reflective seating area, set against the backdrop of an interactive sun. Created with a circle of 16 of van Aubel’s Sunne solar lamps, this sun changes colour when visitors touch a sensor made from a new bamboo fabric developed by Lexus. The sensor sends a signal that triggers a personal sunrise for each person.
The installation also features natural sounds such as the rustling of bamboo – another reference to the material used in the interior of the LF-ZC, the inspiration for this work.
Hideki Yoshimoto is a designer, creative director and Project Associate Professor at the Research Center for Advanced Scient and Technology at the University of Tokyo. Born in Wakayama Prefecture in 1985, he completed a master’s programme in aerospace engineering at the University of Tokyo’s graduate school in 2010, followed by a doctorate in design engineering at the Royal College of Art in London in 2016.
Yoshimoto founded the design studio Tangent in London in 2015. In 2020 he co-founded the field of Advanced Art and Design at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, while further expanding his work in London and Tokyo. He specialises in the progressive integration of design and engineering and has provided numerous designs and concepts for world-famous luxury brands, as well as engaging in a wide range of fields from the development of new businesses based on technology to urban development.
His recently founded international initiative Craft x Tech connects traditional Japanese crafts with cutting-edge technology. He actively presents artworks through collaborations with traditional crafts, working on the evolution and passing-on of Japanese culture.
Yoshimoto’s notable works include the giant wall art ‘Orb’ (2023) for the Tanegashima Space Art Festival; ‘Dawn’ (2023), which fuses traditional ‘Kanazawa’ gold leaf with state-of-the-art laser processing technology; the installation ‘Here’ (2019) for the Hermès pavilion at the international fine watch salon SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie); the glass sculpture ‘Rise’, released from Wonderglass; the animation ‘Ascension’ (2016) for the façade of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj al Khalifa; and ‘Inaho’ (2013), a lighting concept inspired by swaying rice plants that was the winner of the first Lexus Design Award.
He has received many awards in the fields of design and engineering, including the Excellence Award from the Artificial Intelligence Society of Japan; Super Creator certification from the IPA Unexplored Software Project; the Wakayama Prefectural Culture Encouragement Award; the Lexus Design Award; and the Reddot Design Concept Best of the Best award.
Marjan van Aubel is a solar designer from the Netherlands whose work explores innovations that combine sunlight and technology for a sustainable future. The Marjan van Aubel Studio engages in creative activities to incorporate solar energy into daily life and has received numerous awards. Van Aubel’s vision is to create a future that fuses sustainability, design, and solar technology. Through solar design, she aims to bring about lasting change, incorporating solar power generation into people’s lives through buildings and objects, making it more accessible.
Her passion aligns with Lexus’ story and its aim for battery electric vehicles to deliver experiential value as familiar elements in people’s lives, leading to an eventually carbon neutral society. Her notable works include ‘Sunne’, ‘Current Table’, ‘Power Plant’ and the roof design for the Netherlands Pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo. Van Aubel graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2012 with a Master’s degree in Product Design and holds a Bachelor’s degree (2009) from the DesignLAB at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. Her leading brand collaborations include COS, Timberland and Swarovski to help accelerate the transition to solar energy globally.
