French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has remodeled the Renault 4L automotive, an icon of the Nineteen Sixties, right into a luxury-travel car with a lounge area within the clear boot.
In honour of the car’s sixtieth anniversary, Renault had tasked Lehanneur with devising an idea automotive that showcased his imaginative and prescient for the 4L.
Lehanneur’s response was the Suite No.4, which displays on the modern starvation for escape and the view that journeys are extra concerning the expertise than the vacation spot.
The automotive has the identical strains and exterior dimensions because the traditional 4L, however the rear panelling is changed with panoramic home windows that cowl the perimeters and roof of the automotive. In accordance with Lehanneur, they appear to be architectural glass however are made from clear polycarbonate.
He hopes that for somebody reclining within the boot, which has been was a lounge area, the cockpit will “dematerialise” and the view shall be enveloping.
“I needed to create a room with a view however whose view may very well be endlessly recreated,” mentioned Lehanneur, “Just like the lacking hyperlink between mobility and immobility, between journey and refuge.”
He mentioned he thinks of the Suite No.4 as extra a piece of structure than an vehicle, and one which embodies the idea of “minimal luxurious”.
“I needed to make the expertise as pleasurable on the highway as on the vacation spot,” Lehanneur continued. “So I created a hybrid of the car world and the world of structure in reward of the escape. Suite Quantity 4 is not a automotive, it is journey structure.”
Lehanneur retrofitted his 4L to be 100 per cent electrical, and it additionally options clear photo voltaic panels on the roof that assist to cost the automotive’s battery whereas in daylight.
The inside options supplies from home reasonably than vehicular environments, all of that are made in France.
A vivid yellow velvet upholsters the seats and dashboard, whereas creamy white chenille with a thick, ribbed texture covers the area within the boot.
Bolsters and cushions add to the inviting environment of the lounge area, whereas a picket slide-out bench might be pulled out like a drawer from underneath the rear hatch to increase this space.
With the hatch open, the area is open to the outside however sheltered from rain.
The automotive’s exterior encompasses a entrance grill made out of certainly one of Lehanneur’s signature supplies, polished aluminium, sculpted right into a rippled floor as in his Liquid Marble collection.
So as to add to Suite No.4’s architectural qualities, the physique is coated with three layers of paint meant to approximate the mineral look of cement.
The Suite No.4 shall be displayed on the L’Atelier Renault showroom on the Champs-Elysées in Paris beginning 1 December, and on the Maison&Objet honest from 20 to 24 January 2022.
The Renault 4L, pronounced “Quatrelle” in French and often known as the Renault 4, is without doubt one of the most long-lived vehicles in historical past, with a manufacturing run of 33 years between 1961 and 1994.
Eight million items had been offered in that point, and it was manufactured in 28 completely different international locations.
Renault’s current designes embrace the Morphoz idea automotive that expanded primarily based on consumer want and the Ez-Professional idea for driverless supply pods.
Lehanneur is a French artist and designer whose earlier work contains the aluminium State of the World sculptures primarily based on inhabitants knowledge and the sculpted marble Ocean Reminiscences furnishings items.
