A SHAPE-SHIFTING LEXUS CONCEPT INSPIRED BY THE JAPANESE PRINCIPLE OF LIGHT

Lexus being the luxury brand of Toyota, you know it gets the best of Toyota’s engineering and R&D skills. But when a Toyota-sponsored project creates a Lexus with a shape-shifting outdoor, we take notice! Named as the Lexus Hikari Concept, the design plays with light and its impact on the design. Hikari literally means ‘light’ in Japanese and the designer, in this case, was exceptionally inspired by the architectural classic – The White U House by Toyo Ito. What intrigued(引起…的兴趣) the designer, Hanzhengyi (Leo) Pan, is the way the U-shaped courtyard created an intriguing (迷人的，有趣的) play of light within the house. It is that contrast of light and shadow that is incorporated into this concept. And it truly is mesmerizing (有魅力的，吸引人的)!

Let’s begin with the shapeshifting feature – there are 2 main forms of the car’s exterior – one that allows light and the other restricts light, creating a comfortable cocoon ( 茧, 把……紧紧包住) inside the car. The exterior (外部) was imagined using Toyoda Gosei’s “e-rubber”, a next-generation material that holds together a surface while allowing it to bend without any visible creases. The flexible nature of the e-rubber lets the exterior change and control the amount of light passing through the oval structure of the transparent roof. This directly affects the user riding in the car, creating a harmonious connection between the exterior and interior of the car and its user, all of it using the principle of light. The renders showcase this to be an autonomous driving vehicle, so the car holds ample (宽敞的) space for the users with the motor at the front, hydrogen tank at the tail end, and the bottom is lined with the fuel cells (染料电池).

Retaining iconic Lexus design language, the concept holds true to the assertive L-finesse design philosophy with its spindle grille shape connecting the four tires (轮胎). With no visible door and windows, it is the roof of this car that controls the ambiance (氛围，环境). Expand the exterior to cover the roof and limit the light, letting the rider rest in the comforting shade. Close or contract the exterior, the rooftop gets exposed creating a bright, sunny ambiance inside, making the interior comfortable to work, study or even have a meeting. With Toyo Ito’s White U being an almost spiritual architecture by design, the Lexus Hikari tries to develop and maintain the same spiritual connection between all things man-made and natural, playfully interacting to deliver a calm, focused and balanced experience to the user.

See you tomorrow