Futuristic Volvo Air 360 Concept Makes Flying Experience as Real as Possible

Volvo Air 360 was designed as part of 2020 Volvo Design Challenge, the brief was to design future vehicle that embraces three elements of nature: land, water, or air. Nacho Alfonso chose “air” as his element for this vehicle concept. The sky is the limit, Volvo Air 360 is a concept passenger drone designed specifically to provide passengers with flying experience, making it as real as possible. You can read Nacho explanation below about this project in his own words.

“The Volvo Air 360 is a concept for the transport of the future, it is a fully autonomous and fully electric drone with room for four passengers. Each seat is held independently so that the cabin can rotate 360 degrees. When the cabin it’s in a vertical position, the passengers are able to enjoy amazing panoramic views so that the feeling of flying is as real as possible.

Since it was a contest, one of my objectives from the beginning was to break the schemes with an idea that could surprise the jury. As there was the possibility to choose between the three elements, I thought that the most innovative idea could come from a vehicle destined for the air, so I began to imagine what the future of Volvo could be if they started making flying vehicles.

One of the things that I had in mind from the beginning was to center the design around an experience, as the brief said, I wanted not only to design a vehicle, but to create a context and a purpose and that is how the idea of the vehicle came about.

Once in the final stage where 10 students were selected, we were asked to present 2 boards showcasing our idea in the most representative way, then the jury will choose one of us that will gain a 6-month internship at Volvo.

As I said, one of my main objectives was to present an idea that would break the rules and surprise the jury. As for this last phase I wasn’t sure whether the jury would have already seen my idea or not, I thought that the best way to present it and differentiate myself from the other participants would be to present a story as a comic made from the renders I was preparing. This way I could show my idea while presenting something that no one else would have presented.”