Ora-ïto transforms the Renault 17 right into a futuristic but retro-tinged imaginative and prescient

That is Ora-ïto’s radical interpretation of the Renault 17, a wedge-shaped Seventies-era saloon that has been re-born for the electrical age. It’s the fourth undertaking in an ongoing annual sequence by which the French producer invitations modern designers to discover, improve and revamp traditional kinds from its archives, ostensibly as a method to have a good time the electrical period but in addition as a literal automobile for brand new materials and formal approaches.

The sequence started with Mathieu Lehanneur’s Suite N°4 (2021), the Renault 5 Diamant by Pierre Gonalons (2022) and final yr’s Twingo reinvented by Sabine Marcelis. On the cusp of the launch of the all-new Renault 5 EV, La Regie has as soon as extra delved into the archive, this time tapping Ora-ïto abilities for a recreation of the Renault 17. Shortlisted for the undertaking by Patrice Meignan, CEO and founding father of TheArsenale artistic consultancy, the designer jumped on the probability to participate.

‘I in a short time noticed that I may do one thing particular as a result of there was a design language there that was much like mine,’ the designer says, including that though the R17 isn’t a traditional just like the Cinq, the unique 1972 design has a creased, wedgy fashion that has whipped again round into style.

The design course of was comparatively speedy. Whereas the idea retains the unique automobile’s glasshouse and mechanical elements just like the door mechanisms, beneath the brand new carbon fibre bodywork is an all-electric powertrain. ‘The thought was to maintain the spirit of the automobile but in addition make it easier and cleaner,’ Ito says, ‘it’s the fashion of the Seventies however with a extra minimal perspective.’ Flared wheelarches are paired with a refined new entrance and rear finish, the latter with a full-width LED gentle bar and a ‘shark-like’ entrance with abstracted radiator grille, slender LED lights and mouth-like vent.

‘I didn’t need it to appear like a race automobile,’ Ito says, including that the redesign ‘has an architectural imaginative and prescient.’ All through this course of, his unique visions advanced right into a restomod-style method, fairly completely different from the radicalism inherent in his 2011 Citroën collaboration. That undertaking resulted within the radical, sculptural evomobil and UFO fashions, two transportation gadgets that have been extra akin to wheel-less spaceships than common vehicles.

This was an altogether extra formal undertaking, one which concerned shut collaboration with Renault’s design group. ‘They have been wonderful – they did all of the 3D modelling, and I pushed them, they usually have been at all times keen to attempt issues,’ Ito says. Totally drivable, due to its EV underpinnings, the R17 idea additionally features a practical inside, with dials and graphics designed by Ora-ïto’s studio.

‘We actually went into the main points on each factor,’ he explains, ‘the dials have been impressed by my type language, “Grammatology”, working alongside interface designers.’ Cloth and supplies evoke the period’s residential interiors, with their curved wooden and aluminium trim. The brand new bodywork is completed in a darkish metallic brown, one other nod to the Seventies. ‘Inside, it’s such as you’re in a 3D render – the automobile feels nearly unreal,’ Ora-ïto says.

The designer additionally cites the primary Blade Runner as some extent of departure, and there’s positively a touch of artwork director Syd Mead’s visionary futurism within the idea. ‘This might be Austin Powers’s automobile, or the Jetsons,’ he provides. Transportation is at present using excessive on the studio’s agenda. ‘I’m actually having fun with mobility design in the intervening time.’

Latest initiatives embrace Good’s tramway system and the forthcoming Marseille metro. While this Renault will stay a one-off, it absolutely gained’t be lengthy earlier than an adventurous automotive producer comes knocking.

Ora-Ito.com, Renault.co.uk

We solid our eyes again on Renault’s first three ‘restomod’ icons undertaking

October 2021: Suite N°4 by Mathieu Lehanneur

Described by the French designer as a ‘cell resort room’, Suite N°4 was a radical reinterpretation of the traditional Renault 4L that ended up being a modernist room on wheels, with clear polycarbonate physique panels and a lavishly upholstered inside.