TIME reframes the interior of an autonomous vehicle as an inhabitable space – a “25th hour” reclaimed from travel time and returned to the occupant as personal time. Rather than prescribing functions, the interior is designed as an open environment that enables activity, connection, and individual use.
The exterior draws on industrial design and architecture, built around a single wedge form that merges roof, windshield, and rear window into one continuous body.
An hourglass-shaped lateral element runs along the sides, while the wheels are suggested rather than exposed – appearing as cavities where the body dissolves. Vertical and horizontal light elements define the front and rear.
The interior shifts register entirely, moving toward softness and warmth, with technology receding into the background.
The accompanying exhibition translates the design process into an immersive sequence of visual and sound installations, tracing the project from initial research through to final form. It also documents the use of DIGIPHY, a platform developed by Granstudio that integrates virtual reality with physical interfaces.
IED Torino Director Paola Zini explains: “Students are supported in developing the conceptual skills needed to fully express their creative potential and cultivate a critical perspective capable of interpreting the growing complexity of the present. Our collaboration with Tesla has amplified this process, offering a real research context in which to explore and imagine what does not yet exist.”
TIME was designed by Guido Baccaglini, Ria Barve, Blanca Bulto Aguirre, Sara Cambareri, Gonzalo Castro, Yi-Sun Chen, Gautam Desai Ameya, Gabriele Listorti, Matteo Lonardo, Francesco Magenta, Alessandro Signorelli, Federico Tosana, and Zhengjie Wang.
The concept car was built by Freeland.car, MINTT, Raitec, and AM Costruzione Modelli, with technical support from OZ Racing and Lechler.
(Source: IED)