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Peugeot Design Lab

#132 In Zona Tortona, the Peugeot Design Lab shows its latest designs: a bistro on wheels and three 3D-printed lamps in recycled paper. #salone2015

A sailing boat, a motorboat, an aeroplane, a watch, a surfboard and two bicycles – plus, at previous editions of the Fuorisalone, a spectacular piano created for Pleyel and the Onyx stone and carbon-fibre sofa.

Nothing seems impossible for the Peugeot Design Lab, founded in 2012, led by Cathal Loughnanne and accustomed to managing complex projects involving thousands of engineers at any one time.

“We work on a huge range of products”, explains Loughnane “We work for Peugeot as its design agency and for other clients. In fact, we are developing the new Strasbourg city trams for Alstom. We find ourselves in a funny world that sits between the brand and design agencies. We’re all car designers and the idea is to provide knowhow that can’t be found elsewhere, a different approach. We are also able to work with thousands of engineers on a single project and manage the complexities of a five-year project or one costing 500 million Euros.”

Once again this year, the new designs are – predictably – mixed and range from a food truck restaurant on wheels to three lamps. The Food Truck (which will be parked in front of the French pavilion for the EXPO) stems from a desire to create a total experience, from the time you arrive to when you leave the restaurant. It can serve 30 diners at a time and has indoor tables.

The three lamp collections (“We make over 10 million lights a year but all for cars”, explains Loughnanne) are totally different. The first is made with newspaper-wood (a material produced by recycling unused newspapers printed for last year’s Design Week), ceramic and copper (inside). “Each ring in the wood doesn’t represent a year’s growth but a page in the paper.” continues the designer. At the other extreme is the second piece in the Onyx collection after the stone and carbon-fibre sofa: a lamp nearly three metres tall. “Behind this series is the contrast between natural and technological materials.”

A tree trunk that fell during a typhoon and was found at the side of a road in Indonesia was the starting point of the project. The rest was constructed in resin with a 3D printer to fit it perfectly. “We’ve been working with 3D printing for 15 years but always to create prototypes and the resin is painted or covered. In this case, we decided to leave it as it was.” The third lamp collection is an ideal mix of the two worlds, using 3D printing for a series of lamps that can be customised.