An exhibition on auto design reveals the route from clay models to cars on the road

There was a time when Japanese auto company Nissan was almost declared a write-off. Yet another carmaker that couldn’t keep pace in a competitive, fast-moving industry.

But it was saved, from halfway across the world.

Legendary Carlos Ghosn, president of Nissan Motor Co and France’s Renault, took over Nissan and turned it around.

Ghosn placed importance on design, meeting with designers and having a say in the cars that hit the market. His vision has just hit these shores.

“With the Nissan Design Forum, our intention is to showcase the design side of Nissan to the next generation of automotive designers in Thailand. The event will bring together top designers from Nissan and automotive design students in Thailand giving them an opportunity to understand how things work within the design teams of car companies,” says Thierry Viadieu, president of Siam Nissan Automobile.

The forum is being held at the Major Esplanade from Friday until next Monday, and functional and emotional designs will be the focus of panel discussions.

Nissan has invited its Japanese and American designers Kuraoka Ryoichi and Giovanny Arroba. Also on the guest list are two outstanding designers from Thailand - Professor Soontorn Boonyatikarn of the architecture school at Chulalongkorn University and Associate Professor Suthipuntha Sujarittanonta, formerly the director of tropical architecture research at the National University of Singapore.

Design students from Chulalongkorn and Silpakorn universities and King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Lat Krabang are attending.

The event will see an exhibition of Nissan artwork on display alongside clay models of the Murrano, Pivo, GTR, Tiida, Teana and 350Z.

Clay models are the foundation of any car design project. Accordingly, the two Nissan designers will lead students through the modelling process to create their own clay model.

Sketches, models and toolkits from the work of the Nissan design team are offered, too, along with demonstrations. It all adds up to tell the story of Nissan’s philosophy and inspiration.

“The main objective is to educate students, and then to educate the public about Nissan’s passion for design. Design divisions are the most secretive areas of car companies. Even company staff outside the design division are not allowed access,” Viadieu says.

“This event helps students understand the difference between the academic approach to design and the ‘real-world’ approach.

“Students get a flavour of where they could be working in the future,” he adds.

Nissan has two design facilities in Asia, one in China, the other in Taiwan.

Viadieu doesn’t know if there will be another centre anytime soon, but says local, skilled designers shouldn’t despair of being recruited by the company.

“We have a research and development centre in Thailand. We don’t design complete cars here but a lot of parts are designed locally. It’s just that these parts aren’t seen much.

“Thailand,” confirms Viadieu, “has a wealth of creative and intelligent minds.”

“At Nissan, we believe that attractive design is a necessary condition for the success of a product. This event will give details from scratch to sketch, from clay to prototype, all of it under the ‘three C’s concept’ - clear, creative and consistent.”

Source : The Nation

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