Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

The Los Angeles Auto Show is just a few weeks away, so now seems as good a time as any to skim through the submissions for its 6th Annual Design Challenge. This year's theme is YouthMobile  2030 -- the goal being to envision vehicles two decades down the road. Participating studios include Audi, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, and GM, whose entry is the "Car Hero" concept pictured at left. As you might presume for concept that alludes to a popular videogame, "Car Hero" works like a game, wherein drivers begin by letting the vehicle navigate on its own, but eventually gain the ability to control the car themselves by demonstrating some driving...

It's no secret that Volkswagen plans to kill off the Passat and replace it with a larger, purpose-built-for-Americans midsize sedan codenamed, in a fit of startling creativity, the New Midsize Sedan, or NMS. But what the NMS will look like has been left to little more than monochrome watercolors and line-art sketches so far.

That is, until Brazilian designer Irmao do Decio put mouse to pixel and came up with this rendering. Of course, it's completely unofficial and theoretical, but his methods are sound enough to give us an idea of what may be in the works.

Building on the base of the latest official sketch, do Decio then took inspiration...

From an architectural competition for a new cycling bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, comes this eye-raising design. Is it straight out of Idiocracy—or more Blade Runner crossed with The Dukes of Hazzard and a little bit of Rad?

The entrants, Tiago Barros and Jorge Pereira, asked, "Why change the route of pedestrians and cyclists?" Instead, they proposed a high-speed car ramp that would launch cars airborne, over pedestrians and cyclists.

The "It's About Time" design competition, which was open to architects and architecture firms, was accepting submissions until September 7. The winner of the contest was announced earlier this week, with a top...