The pandemic has changed our lives but it will also allow us to become aware of the little things. Many of us have become accustomed to a frenetic pace, in which culture and art have a temporary and frenetic place. For that reason, now more than ever, we must recognize projects like the Lexus UX Art . This contest, which features the compact SUV from Toyota’s premium firm, was held in both 2019 and 2020. Due to the general situation, we were not able to enjoy the winning works until a few weeks ago, when Lexus Spain organized the exhibition in Space V22 . There we were able to meet, and see with our own eyes, the two winning cars at the same time: Zen Garden and Scale Armor .
Lexus is a firm aware of its Japanese past and tradition. What’s more, its vehicles are still developed using classic design techniques. In this article we explain the beginnings of Lexus in our country, marked by the figure of the Takumi masters and their ability to transform clay into a machine with its own spirit. This way of understanding life, which goes beyond what is conceived and fashions, encouraged them to create a unique platform during the pandemic : Spain is a lot of the world. On this website we can find national destinations that remind us of those dreamed of in a world without covid, when we could travel and catch planes without thinking twice.
But returning to the topic that concerns us today. Art oozes from all four sides of any Lexus model, innovative and avant-garde in design. For that reason, it makes sense to use a UX to create a parallel world . That was the request for the Lexus UX Art Car design contest and these were the winners.
Zen garden
The Valencian studio Clap Estudio, formed by Jordi Iranzo and Angela Montagud , have wanted to associate the SUV of the Japanese firm with nature. As they explain themselves, the work Zen Garden “gathers on the one hand the arbitrary / casual character of nature , which always finds the way to continue growing. And, on the other hand, the perfection of the human hand in charge of creating magic, symmetry and perfection and technology and innovation ”.
For them it is essential that human beings remember their union with nature, the one that gives us life and has brought us here. We must learn to live in perfect harmony and accept that our technology and its cycle can go hand in hand. Calm is another of the fundamental pillars of his work , as well as the pure awareness of that connection. Montagud explains that: “We have used paper, a significant element in Japanese culture, to represent Lexus greenery. The result is a piece of art in which paper, as a natural element, covers the exterior of the car, giving it volume ”.
Scale armor
This work won the award in 2019 but we had not yet been able to meet it in person. Those in charge of this project are the designers, Trini Salamanca and Pablo Párraga, from the Sevillano Las Ánimas studio . To create the effect of scales in the UX they have used a red and blue organic mesh that simulates the hard skin of a fish, an animal very important to Japanese culture.
Salamanca explains that: “The colorful packaging is a three-dimensional structure made with a bio-epoxy material, superimposed on the body of the vehicle as if it were a canvas.” Ultimately, this concept of the vehicle is in perfect harmony with the Lexus design philosophy and its “engawa” concept , which serves to create a story between the exterior and interior of the car.
