This proposal is focused around providing an alternative view of what the future of the Taxi might be. The vehicle is designed around the user and this is reflected in the safety of ingress/egress, the passenger/driver compartment split and features for ease of use by passengers. Features include, split for driver safety when used as night rider, GPS and mapping system for driver and passenger, passenger entertainment/info hub, Smart card system, disability access and focus on curb side access only. Technological features include the hydrogen fuel cell, battery generators, solar panel system and recharging hubs.

The overall aesthetic of the vehicle is influenced by the Australian environment; space, relaxed ambience, unique identity, comfort, security, and a ‘can do’ attitude. These unique characteristics immediately identify the vehicle as special purpose and also set it apart from other vehicles on the road. The curb-side DLO captures the essence of the Taxi in that it is inviting passengers inside for an experience.

The footprint is emphasized by the wheels being in the outermost corners of the vehicle which allows for greater volume and also a very level and balanced stance. The roof features an acrylic opening area to allow for a greater sense of space while also allowing a great vantage point for passengers. The solar panel is also cleverly housed on the roof to harness the most energy from beating Australian sun.

Curb side access only for passenger ingress / egress safety. All doors use a slider system for minimizing the overall footprint of the vehicle whilst it is in operation. Access for wheel-chair bound passengers is catered for by providing a platform that extends to the curbside to allow access. All rear compartment seats tuck away to open-up maximum floor room for wheelchair access. Rear trunk also operates on a slider system.

The rear compartment is split-up to allow for better communication for the rear occupants. Rear seats fold away to allow access and floor clearance for wheelchair access. Heads-up display on split window for accessing features such as map, places of interest, fares and also for advertising. Driver to passenger split is driven by – safety and privacy. The split ensures security of the drivers whilst also providing a more private booth-type environment for passengers. Doors split open at the centre to allow for maximum operating opening distance.

Polycarbonate is used throughout the vehicle due to its impact resistance, relative lightweight, optical qualities and high temp resistance. The chassis comprises of aluminum to minimize weight.

Curb-side access only for passenger safety, bright orange livery for visual impact, safety-cell for passengers and driver all contribute to overall safety. Optimized seating configuration allows greater interaction, comfort and ease of use – especially the fold away seats for wheelchair access.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology coupled with electric generators / batteries propel the vehicle. The solar panel is used to harness extra energy as well as the recharging hubs when the vehicle is used to pick up passengers.

Designer : Damian Lucaciu

The sleek and smooth design of this car with a visage can easily call out for anyone’s attention. It can house 4 people and natural materials have been utilized to design the interior. Both the drag coefficient and weight of the vehicle is optimized by redistributing and reducing the weight to maximize the energy efficiency and improve driving ability. Both the door and roof inserts become opaque as a final touch, which reduces the amount of glare coming to the vehicle.

Designer : BMW via Inhabitat

The 4 hydraulic legs of Landstorm can move independently and are providing great functionality by navigating over tremendously difficult terrain and raising itself up to reach the target. The use of these hydraulic drive-train attached with several powerful electric motors and powered by hydrogen fuel cell, have made the vehicle lightweight by removing the mechanical parts to impel the wheels. Moreover, it can be airdropped when the destination is far from the closest depot and then continue to reach the target on land.

The wheels of Landstorm are uniquely designed that feature small pods, allowing more grip on surfaces like loose dirt, mud or snow by increasing to compress surface area or just by using the edges to grip onto the surface. These are not just wheels, they feature a grapple gun or hook winch that lets the vehicle drag heavy debris or towing a standard vehicle. Once the Landstorm reaches the destination, the team will start rescuing and treating the survivors for emergency injuries.

The driver and navigator of Landstorm will have no problem finding out how far the destination is and how to get there by using the state of the art HUD technology along with a built in MultiSight camera (Infra Red, Night Vision and Cold Vision) powered with an advanced Computer AI. The heads up display features the most interactive information system which is controlled by the user’s neural patterns, which means, the information is controlled by the users thoughts. The rest of the cabin remains free for storage compartments for various equipments. There is a small backup unit that will start working if the main power source fails for any reason.

Designer : Peter Spriggs

[Press Release]

DRAGONFLY, A METABOLIC FARM FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE

2009 : 800 MILLION OF URBAN FARMERS FOR RESPONSIBLE ECO-CITIES

The world of fast-food and frozen food is over! The urban keen interest of the beginning of our Century turns toward the garden flat bringing back the countryside in our overcrowded cities fighting from now on for a community urban agriculture able to contribute to the durability of the city and to rethink the food production.

On the roofs, terraces, balconies, in the hollow of the non-built public spaces, in the interior yards and the suspended greenhouses, the eco-warrior aspires to escape from its competitive and consumeristic universe imposed by the laws of the market. He desires to cultivate its immediate landscape so as to better take root in the ground by creating his own ecologic and alimentary biodiversity. The consumer becomes from then on producer and the garden inhabitant !

From the Parisian « worker gardens » to the « community gardens » of New York going though Muscovite « vegetable squares », eight hundred million of urban farmers, i.e. more than one human being out of ten, consume nowadays chlorophyllous products from these cosmopolitan kitchen gardens. These new gardens, aware of the emergency to reduce our fuel consumption and the necessity to modify our behaviour facing the climatic changes, decrease thus their environmental impact and build eco-responsible cities on a community way.

2025 : 5.5 BILLION OF CITY SLICKERS FACING THE FOOD CHALLENGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

According to the PNUD (Programme of the United Nations for the Development), the worldwide urban population will go from 3.1 billion of inhabitants in 2009 up to 5.5 billion of inhabitants within 2025. Looking for a positive energetic assessment, the contemporary city aims within fifteen years at producing cleanly and intensively more energy than it consumes so as to pack this urban exodus! It develops therefore the urban agriculture to become food self-sufficient by recycling at the same time its liquid waste by phyto-purification, its solid waste in fertilizers by composting and by producing energy by biomass, photovoltaic cells and other renewable energies (thermic solar, photovoltaic solar, wind, tide-turbine energies…).

In order to avoid the asphixiation of the planet and the feeding of its 9 billion of inhabitants within 2050, it deals thus with reinventing the traditional energetic pattern between the city and the countryside between western countries, emerging countries and developing countries. This sums up as following: on the one hand import of natural and food resources, and on the other hand export of waste and pollution. The ecologic city aims at reintegrating the farming function on the urban scale by emphasizing the role of the urban agriculture in the use and the reuse of natural resources and biodegradable waste so as to close the loop of ecologic flows.

The urban agriculture can feed the city without any pesticide or chemical fungicide (whose toxicity is proved on the human being : cancer, sterility…), and make it less food dependant of its backcountry or other regions of the world. Organising the distribution of fresh products in short circuits, that means linked directly with the consumer, the urban agriculture complete thus the traditional agriculture. In addition to the nutritive quality of the produced and consumed food, the urban agriculture is also a growth lever of the urban unemployment market and the local economy. It is used directly as a social link in the conciliation of the primary needs of the newcomers with the challenge of their integration in the life of the city, fighting thus against poverty and exclusion. On the sanitary level, this farm approach presents also an interesting potential for the decontamination of polluted grounds and undergrounds as well as for he purification of the polluted atmosphere in CO2.

Due to the fuel crisis and climatical change, the rural agriculture of the western countries must answer to the worldwide food crisis of the developing countries and mainly Africa. Its role is from now on to produce (with an increase estimated of 60% within 2050) all the foodstuffs transportable by boat such as cereals or corn. This is based on the evolution of the science and the most advanced biotechnologies. In addition to this nutritious role, the rural agriculture is newly challenged to recycle its own culture rebus for the green chemistry in order to produce the bio fuel called “second generation fuel” using the energy of non-consumable materials from the plants, that means fibres such as celluloses.

DRAGONFLY, A NOURISHING VERTICALY CULTIVATED CENTRAL PARK

The architecture has to be in the service of this new agriculture and to design this new social desire in this context of ecologic mutation and food autonomy! The Dragonfly project suggests therefore building a prototype of urban farm offering around a mixed programme of housing, offices and laboratories in ecological engineering, farming spaces which are vertically laid out in several floors and partly cultivated by its own inhabitants. This vertical farm sets up all the sustainable applications in organic agriculture based on the intensive production varied according to the rhythm of the seasons. This nourishing agriculture is furthermore in favour of the reuse of biodegradable waste and the keeping of energy and renewable resources for a planning of ecosystemic densification.

Floor by floor, the tower superposes not only stock farming ensuring the production of meat, milk, poultry and eggs but also farming grounds, true biological reactors continuously regenerated with organic humus. It diversifies the cultivated varieties to avoid the washing of stratums of soft substratum. Thus, the cultures succeed one another vertically according to their agronomical ability to provide some elements of the ground between the essences that are sowed and harvested. The tower, true living organism, becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in water, energy, and bio-fertilizing. Nothing is lost; everything is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding!

A BIONIC AND ENERGETICALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of Dragonfly prototype suggests reinventing the vertical building (that outlined the urbanistic booming of New York City since the 19th Century) as structurally and functionally as ecologically and energetically.

To ensure the social diversity and a permanent life cycle (24h/24) in the tower, the mixed programmation is mainly laid out around two poles of housing and work places. Around housings, offices and research laboratories as well as the most private to the most public agricultural and leisure spaces are designed in gardens, kitchen gardens, orchards, meadows, rice fields, farms and suspended fields. The distribution of flows is made around a true safe spine spreading in loop the numerous elevators, the goods elevators and stair wells serving all the levels by separating simultaneously the inputs and the outputs recycled from plants, animals and human beings.

Architecturally, the functional organisation is represented by two oblong towers symetrically arranged in pair around a huge climatic greenhouse that links them and deploys itself between two crystalline wings. These very light wings in glass and steel retake the loads of the building and are directly inspired from the structure of the dragonfly wings coming from the family of “Odonata Anisoptera” whose transparent membrane is very finely nervured. Two inhabited rings buttress around these wings. Their organically chiselled exo-structure accommodates the inter-climatic spaces that receive the agrarian cultures. They buttress.

The whole set forms «double layer» architecture in bee nest mesh that exploits the solar passive energy at its maximum level, by accumulating the warm air in the winter in the thickness of the exo-structure, and by cooling the atmosphere by natural ventilation and by evapo-perpiration of the plants in the summer. Protecting thus the cultures from climatic changes in New York (from -25.5°C in the winter to +41°C in the summer), these plug spaces are useful to reflect on the agriculture not anymore in terms of surface area but really in terms of volume. Actually, whereas grounds nourish orchards, each wall and each ceiling are metamorphosed into three-dimensional kitchen gardens. The interior frontages of the housing and offices throw towards the skyline of New York the cantilever of their hydrophonic balconies with hexagonal section thanks to what it multiplies the culture layers by floors. The vegetation abounds, the earth is swarming of insects and animals are freely brought up in holding tanks by urban consumers with low income. The architecture becomes eatable!

Designer : Vincent Callebaut Architect

Designer : Alan Kravchenko

Designer : Benjamin Cselley, Jupin Ghanbari, Jessica Covi, and Erol Kursani

[Press Release]
Mercedes-Benz F-CELL Roadster – trainees build a car of the future

* Young people unite high tech and tradition

* Alternative drive systems as a training topic

In a hitherto unique project bridging various fields of profession, the trainees of Daimler AG at the Sindelfingen Mercedes-Benz plant have built a Roadster with fuel cell drive. For about a year, more than 150 trainees and dual education system students worked on the overall concept, development, assembly, and completion of the F-CELL Roadster. This project involved junior employees from the fields of automotive mechatronics, model-building, electronics, coating technology, manufacturing mechanics, product design, and interior appointments. The prime objective of the project was to integrate the topic of alternative drive systems into training with hands-on experience.

“This project impressively demonstrates that the topic of sustainable mobility has become an integral part of our vocational training,” said Human Resources Board member and Labor Relations Manager Günther Fleig. “I am delighted to see how much initiative and creativity the young people have put into this project.”

Tradition meets the future

The F-CELL Roadster uniquely combines state-of-the-art technologies with the history of vehicle construction. As an allusion to the Benz Patent Motor Car from 1886, the vehicle is fitted with large spoked wheels. Moreover, the F-CELL Roadster incorporates stylistic elements from diverse eras of automotive history, such as the carbon-fiber bucket seats with hand-stitched leather covers and the distinctively styled fiberglass front section, based on the component from the Formula One racing bolides.

The F-CELL Roadster is controlled with drive-by-wire technology, and a joystick takes the place of a conventional steering wheel. The vehicle is powered by the emission-free fuel cell system located at the rear. With a power rating of 1.2 kW the F-CELL Roadster reaches a top speed of 25 km/h and has an operating range of up to 350 km.

Designer : Mercedes Benz via [Jalopnik]

Text from the website:
The Freight*BUS is designed for several possible propulsion systems, including batteries that are automatically recharged when the bus stops and the potential for fuel cell operation in the future. Thanks to in-wheel electric motors, the bus can manoeuvre into tight bus stops in a ‘crab’ like movement.

Designer : Hugh Frost via Yahoo

Text from David:
Transportation is a key factor in our urban environments and most of our cities are now developed to match the scale and needs of cars, and car users. This reality raises issues regarding sustainability and environment, energy consumption and quality of life.

So, “How can public and personal transports be redefined in a sustainable way, delivering a sense of personal space and independence to its users?” This was the title of my Master of Science in Design and Transport Thesis, concluded in Coventry University, UK, with Distinction, in September 2008.

In other words, the aim of this project was to develop guidelines and a holistic solution for a new system of urban transport, composed of vehicle and infrastructure, in a sustainable way and adaptable to various urban environments.

To develop the project I needed information about: user’s behaviors and explanations for them; main trends; analysis of existing solutions and identification of their problems; definition of applicable technologies in a sustainable manner in a near future. This information was gathered through an online questionnaire, statistical data from several sources, literary research, internet articles, pictures, video and expert interviews and then compiled in my final report.

Preliminary research indicated that several attempts to tackle the issue of mass transportation are being tested and implemented throughout the biggest cities on Earth. Several solutions exist already, but people always seem to give preference to a personal vehicle of some kind to move, commute or make quick trips. Only when there is no other choice, people seem to engage in public transportation. Personal transport is the preferred mode of use and this is a trend that keeps increasing.

The conclusion of the thesis report was composed of guidelines and design specifications that served as basis for the development of a new type of transportation that is truly sustainable and that meets people’s requirements. This generic solution was exemplified through a typical design project that will act as future reference and that goes by the name of “SCARAB”.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
VEHICLE:
- The vehicle allows users to have freedom of use much like a motorcycle but with the convenience of having an enclosed private space and luggage compartments.
- The vehicle can be operated in several different positions depending on speed. It is parked vertically for easy ingress and egress and optimization of public space. When in speed position, the vehicle also tilts when curving or changing direction.
- When circulating in dedicated pathways, the SCARAB is controlled by a centralized computer or by a traffic management centre. Outside of the dedicated pathways the SCARAB is controlled by the user just like any other vehicle.

VEHICLE SPECS:
-The vehicle is composed of interchangeable modules that can be customized by the potential buyer/user.
-Powerpack module composed of a permanent battery plus 3 options for the main energy pack (battery, biofuel ICE or a fuel cell).
-4 wheel drive through electric brushless in-wheel motors with directdrive.
-Wheels with regenerative braking through EW Brakes.
-Drive by wire and tactile HUD embedded in the Lexan canopy.
-Structural elements in Carbon-Aramid composite.
-Embedded sensors, Lidar, radar, transponders, GPS. These serve to exchange information with the system, with other drivers and to have precise location data.

INFRASTRUCTURE:
-Communication nodes spread through roadways and traffic management centres in major conurbations.
-Dedicated paths with electromagnetic transponders embedded in the road.
-Parking facilities with solar/wind power generators.
-High speed/long distance travel provided through a railroad interface (not yet developed).

SYSTEM:
-Renting of the vehicle or modules that allows for a private/public/mixed utilization and transport access for people with less financial resources.
-Doesn’t need new infrastructures (uses the existing roads).
-Is backward compatible with current transport systems and uses current day technologies.

Designer : David Miguel Moreira Gonçalves

[PRESS RELEASE]
GTbyCITROËN
CROSS OVER TO THE VIRTUAL WORLDWith GTbyCITROËN, a show-car presented at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Citroën becomes the first vehicle manufacturer to cross over to the virtual worlds: An original take on a road car, GTbyCITROËN is a style replica of a vehicle from the digital world. The car is the result of a partnership between Citroën and Polyphony, designer of the driving simulation game Gran Turismo 5 on Playstation 3. Already shipped in more than 50 million units worldwide, Gran Turismo is renowned for its quality, design and realism.
In the game, GTbyCITROËN features an electric drive train powered by a fuel cell with no pollutant emissions. It is a car designed to square up to the strongest competition.

“GTbyCITROËN shows how the worlds of virtual and real-life motoring can join together to create a truly innovative partnership. We were delighted that Citroen approached us and gave us the opportunity to combine our creative strengths to build this very special concept car. To see the car take shape in game and then for real has been a truly unique experience as our work normally stays in the digital world. I just hope I can get behind the wheel of GTbyCITROËN and drive it on a real race track!” – Kazanori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital Inc and creator of Gran Turismo

Performance first and foremost
GTbyCITROËN is geared to the world of motor racing, with its dynamic styling, sculpted lines and sharp graphics. The rear end is oversized, made exaggeratedly long in order to create an effect of retinal persistence. The idea is to make the concept car even faster visually. The white-to-grey gradation on the body side further underlines this impression of continuous movement.

Top-level driving
The cabin of GTbyCITROËN, designed to seat two adults, expresses the grand touring vision behind this show-car. The on-board ambience allies premium, extensively worked materials with a more high-tech effect for the driving position.

The layout of the low driving position was dictated by driving pleasure. The aim is for the driver to be able to concentrate on the road, assisted by a head-up display clearly displaying driving information.

RACING SPIRIT BY CITROËN

Power and flowing lines
The design of GTbyCITROËN reflects a quest for optimal aerodynamic design. The show-car is a vehicle of flowing, taut lines, stretched to the extreme. The cleanly drawn sides, ribbed at the top, and the pearlescent shade of the bodywork enhance the vehicle’s sleekly muscled looks.

The determined look of the front end is enhanced by wide air intakes and clear-cut horizontal headlamps. The headlamps feature penetrating blue LEDs in order to light the road effectively and keep rivals at a respectful distance! The chrome chevrons on the smooth bonnet express the Marque’s identity.

The carbon rearview mirrors on their finely profiled supports appear to be suspended as if to cleave the air, giving GTbyCITROËN an excellent on-road stance.

The large wraparound windscreen flows seamlessly into the roof and on into the rear mobile airfoil with its exaggeratedly long shape. The fast-flowing lines create the impression of a car in perpetual movement. The whole body expresses performance and continuous movement.

GTbyCITROËN also expresses strength and power through generous volumes, (length: 4.960m, 2.080m and height: 1.090m) underlined by strongly marked wheel arches. The diamond-effect 21-inch aluminium wheels enhance the car’s sporty personality.

Exceptional handling
The interior design confirms the vehicle’s dynamic and powerful style. The interior of GTbyCITROËN, designed to seat a driver and co-driver, expresses the racing spirit of this concept. The on-board ambience allies rich, premium, extensively worked materials with a more high-tech effect for the driving position, inspired by the world of motorsports.

Looking beyond the spectacular visual effect, the gullwing opening of the two doors gives GTbyCITROËN a level of accessibility rarely seen on this type of vehicle. The driver and co-driver can therefore slip into their seats and get out on the track as quickly as possible.

The dark interior of this show-car is a surprise, compared with the light bodywork. Upholstered in black leather with subtle touches of rare materials such as copper and steel, the cabin of GTbyCITROËN is distinctly sporty.
Two padded racing seats upholstered in dark leather, each fitted with a four-point harness, enfold the driver and passenger for exceptional driving sensations. Placed low down to highlight the impression of speed, the elegant seats are a perfect fit with the rest of the interior.The top-stitched leather of the door panels and floor adds to the opulence of the interior.

The driving position expresses the spirit of competition. The design was objectively guided by the motivation to win.

The dashboard, with its clean uncluttered design, flows into the receding lines of an imposing copper sculpture. The thrusting modern lines of the sculpture become the central tunnel of the vehicle, illustrating the power of GTbyCITROËN and appearing to catalyse its strength.

Created in a twist of this same copper sculpture, the leather-and-steel steering wheel also reflects the sporting spirit of the cabin.

To promote maximum concentration, the driver of GTbyCITROËN has a head-up display for driving information. Using red LEDs, this system projects key driving information – such as speed and navigation data – onto the windscreen in the driver’s direct line of vision.

The head-up display makes a significant contribution to safety with its direct read-out. Drivers assimilate data more quickly and do not have to look away from the road.

Aerodynamics optimised to combine performance and driving sensations
Special emphasis was placed on the aerodynamics and flowing design of GTbyCITROËN, these being key Citroën values. The objective was to enhance the vehicle’s dynamics and to create exceptional driving sensations.

Looking beyond its taut, dynamic lines, this racing car features innovative equipment such as enlarged air intakes at the front, a flat underside, and a mobile spoiler and air diffuser at the rear. All these features play an active role in reducing lift and – above all – drag, to pin the car to the ground.

With its flowing lines, original architecture and its use – in the game – of what is potentially the best environmental technology, GTbyCITROËN embodies the sporting spirit as seen by Citroën and underlines the Marque’s ambitions to meet new challenges.