Home of quattro
Design Tim John for Audi at Design Miami/Basel 2013
Photo © A. Keller

AUDI AG


No other design object can stir human emotion with quite the same intensity as a fine automobile. And no other exhibition has the prestige that Design Miami/ and Design Miami/Basel enjoy within the world of art and design. Audi is the only automobile manufacturer to sponsor this extraordinary design mecca, and is also an active participant.

Design Miami/ 2013: This December, Audi creates the site specific installation “Fragmentation” focusing on Audi Sport. The red rhombus is THE symbol for high-performance and outstanding Audi technology in both series production and motorsport. At Design Miami/ the Audi Sport emblem will be transformed in a three- dimensional installation. The spotlight will be on two extraordinary Audi models, the R8 Spyder, which is the top-sporting model of Audi and the R8 LMS ultra, which Audi offers for customer motorsport and has the same genes as the production model.

Design Miami/ Basel 2013: Audi worked with the Hamburg–based scenographer Tim John to create a unique installation entitled “Home of quattro”. At Design Miami/ Basel the spotlight was on two extraordinary Audi models: The new Audi RS 6 Avant, which made its debut in March at the International Motor Show in Geneva, and the legendary Audi Sport quattro from 1984. For “Home of quattro” Tim John used the art of paper-cutting to create a world portraying important milestones in the history of the legendary four-wheel drive. Since opening his studio in 2007, Tim John has created handmade, intricately-detailed, interactive exhibits, static objects for decoration and sets, as well as installations extending over entire rooms. His work is in combining classical imagery and forms of presentation with modern media.

Design Miami/ 2012: Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram developed a chair using methods borrowed from the future of automotive manufacturing in collaboration with Audi's Lightweight Design Center. The chair's multi-material space-frame was made from carbon composites, carbon micro-sandwich and high strength aluminum and weighed only 2.2 kg or 77 ounces. The chair embodied Audi's ultra lightweight design credo completely by following strict guidelines to shave off every ounce of excess weight. The R18 Ultra Chair's genesis incorporated crowd-sourced data acquired through thousands of testing sessions held in Milan during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in April 2012. This data set was then processed by custom algorithms to optimize the geometry and construction of the final object accordingly. At Design Miami/, the chair's designers and engineers gave visitors an intimate insight into their studios and laboratories, displaying drawings, samples, models, mock-ups, molds and prototypes from the various stages in the development process including an industrial welding robot and the chair's namesake, the 24h of Le Mans winning R18 Ultra race car

Design Miami/2011: Audi and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group presented the interactive LED installation “Urban Future”. The idea behind “Urban Future” was developed by the Copenhagen-based architect group BIG for the Audi Urban Future Award 2010, the architectural competition launched by Audi. For Design Miami/ 2011 the head of BIG, Bjarke Ingels, has transformed the vision into an interactive LED installation. His model represents a section of the city of tomorrow. At its center lies the street, which has become a digitally programmable surface. The A2 concept is an important part of the installation. Audi presented the show car for the first time in the United States. BIG had a good reason for incorporating this showcar in his work: the car is able to communicate with its environment – for Ingels, this is a prerequisite for a networked, mobile future.

Design Miami/ 2010: Audi exhibits futuristic charging station: Looking very modern from outside, the interior shows wood furniture and plants, organic food, magazines and books – a wellness oasis featuring fair-trade products and sustainable materials. A real paradise, hence the title of the installation: “e-den.” The “e” stands for electromobility. Munich-based graphic design studio Mirko Borsche created the vision, which is dominated by reflective glass that mirrors the resplendent Audi e-tron Spyder, a study in electric vehicle design. The architecture is also reminiscent of a 1950s American gas station, with an old gasoline pump encased in glass like a museum piece.

Design Miami/ Basel 2010: Audi set to showcase two breathtaking iconic models; the sub-compact A1 and the luxury A8 sedan. Designed by Moritz Waldemeyer, the display is part of a trendsetting and innovative design installation aptly titled, “Lucid Flux.” The unique set up features 25,000 LED lights which are structured around the two cars, echoing their streamlined harmony and diffusing into a turbulent flow in the space between them. This illustrates the aerodynamic efficiency of the cars and embodies the connection between the stages of life that each car represents.

Design Miami/ 2009: Themed “The Art of Progress,” Audi showcases the new Audi A8 in a site-specific installation: The (full-size) car turns into a miniature collectible surrounded by supersized furniture. This change of perspectives makes the new Audi A8 unique and a precious object of desire. Swedish born artist Daniel Egnéus was selected to create a huge coffee table book and illustrations of the oversize world of the Audi display.

Design Miami/ 2008: Reflecting the influence of nature and the natural beauty of engineering-driven design work, the “Audi Coastline Marina“ brings the aesthetics of a classic yacht and the ambience of the coast to the design boards of the show. Its centerpiece, the Audi Q7 Coastline, with its wood and aluminum interior elements, invokes the construction of deluxe hand-crafted boats and showcases Audi’s capability to create extraordinary limited-edition and customized design.

Design Miami/Basel 2008: Audi succeeds in combining high-tech, art and design. Design in concert with our senses – the avant-garde Audi R8 sports car appears in a bright, glistening light.

Design Miami/ 2007: Audi presents the Cross Cabriolet concept car in the “Wire Frame” exhibit. In the Audi Design Lab, spectators experience the creation of a car in real time. Design greats like Chad Oppenheim, Enzo Enea and Audi Chief Designer Stefan Sielaff discuss the “human element” in design.

Design Miami/Basel 2007: Design through the changes of time – Audi presents innovative design ranging from the Horch 853A sport convertible of the 1930s to the Audi A5 and the Audi RSQ, which was developed for the blockbuster movie, “I, Robot."

Design Miami/ 2006: Audi presents the “Ignition R8” installation in the atrium of the historic Moore Building. From the third level, spectators peer through the glass hood into the heart of the sports car – the 420 hp 8-cylinder engine.