STANCE Finland - Lahti Institute of Design Fine ArtsBachelor’s Degree Programme in Product Design and Intelligent Mobility
https://opinto-opas.lab.fi/en/68177/en/127795
24th of May 2017 saw the opening of our STANCE 17 degree show. We would like all of you to take part in choosing a “people’s favourite” from our exhibits. So here are all 8 projects that were on display. Take a look through the images, then use the comments to vote. Or head to our Facebook page, or twitter!
Lada 2050 Future Vision: The story began in 2016 when our friends in Moscow suggested an ambitious project idea. We cautiously agreed to attempt a project to collaborate with 2 other schools, and one very large car company. The project was for Lada Moscow, and eventually things were set in motion when 12 of our students travelled to Moscow to take part in a 1 week workshop. Our generous hosts at Moscow Polytechnic looked after us handsomely, and that week was the beginning of a 3 month project coordinated between Moscow Polytechnic, Steiglitz Academy of St. Petersburg, and Lahti Institute of Design. Lada Moscow chief designer Raphael Linari mentored the students on this project, with close guidance and feedback every step of the way. We are all extremely grateful to his input. 36 students took part and worked as 6 teams of 6. Each team had 2 members from each school, to ensure cross collaboration. After the 1 week intensive workshops, development of vehicle concepts continued within each group- but with internal competition driving the projects. Students regularly pitched their projects to Raphael Linari, who was instrumental in his feedback, along with staff of all institutes guiding students. On our side, students were helped greatly by Tapani Jokinen with the strategic design and future scenario aspects of this project, and we thank him for that. 2050 is far in the future, and Lada as a business were interested in true blue-sky thinking. The competition was narrowed down to 9 designs (from 36) but eventually only one was chosen to be produced and developed fully. The project continued in 2017 in Moscow, with a specially selected team working to finish the final design. That team worked to create a scale model for the Moscow biennale Design exhibition, in April 2017. This video shows the final result of the project, and I have included a gallery of some of our activities in Moscow.
There is a lot more info on various aspects of this project, at Cardesign.ru. Follow the link!
We at STANCE h
ave had a very eventful term this autumn, and we have a few interesting projects, topics, and events to report. The first we want to talk about is a unique and outstanding opportunity we had this year to employ the services of Italian designer Mr Boris Fabris. In addition to being an extremely nice man, Boris Fabris is a very experienced car
designer- with many production projects to his name. Born in 1972, in Rome Italy, Boris has been working in Turin for nearly 20years and most of those years he has worked at the legendary design studio of Leonardo Fioravanti. One of Bori’s most prominent vehicle designs, was the very first Special Projects Ferrari- the SP1. This unique Ferrari was created
in 2008 for a wealthy Japanese collector.
As you can imagine, the chance to have a Ferrari designer visit us, with deep industry experience to pass onto our students- was a chance we did not want to miss. Mr Fabris offered to hold a one week design workshop, to impart as much of his knowledge and guidance as he could in a visit that proved to be too short (because we enjoyed his company so much). So in September, the Automotive Design Workshop was launched, and students from across our year groups were invited to take part. In total 22 students (the maximum capacity!) were enrolled, and the intense course began on 5th of September with Boris introducing himself to all of our students. After some fascinating insight into the design process, and also some glimpses of his own work, students were all excited and enthused to begin. Boris gave students 2 different design projects within one week. The work was intense and satisfying, with results being demanded so quickly. Boris expertly guided the students to produce ideas and think through the design problems of creating a vehicle as quickly as possible. Enthusiasm
was high, and Boris had even carried his own personal car design library with him (some very heavy books to bring from Turin to Finland!). The history of Italian car design, and also the specific experience of bringing a design from sketch to being stamped out in a factory was something we hoped Boris would bring to us, and he delivered these things superbly. 
Students worked through one brief- for a contemporary luxury coupe- then later in the week Boris used his expertise to place the students into groups
that we knew would simulate a typical design team experience. Those groups set to
work designing a future mega-city urban vehicle design. Group work (once it got underway with the second design brief) was strongly emphasised by Boris, as was team leadership, decision making under pressure and many other real-world, real pressure automotive design industry practises. Our students felt that they gained huge experience in just a matter of days.
The group projects were presented at the end of the week, at the Oy Oy art gallery in Lahti, where we decided to show all of the project work along with other vehicle design artworks by our students (see separate blog post). The two events fitted together nicely, and Boris was happy to publicly show some of his own skills by sketching at the gallery! The intensity of the course and the hard work encouraged by Boris, was only possible thanks to his friendly and warm personality. We will always be grateful to him for visiting, and we would also like to thank the City Council of Lahti for funding of his visit (thanks to our award prize money of 2015).
A gallery of Boris and students at work follows below.
STANCE are holding an art exhibition! Here’s the info… (note: the gallery is closed on Monday and Tuesday)
This exhibition aims to showcase the art that happens behind the scenes, simply as part of our design process in Vehicle Design. Often these sketches and models are discarded or ignored as designs progress towards their final stages. The aim of our exhibition is to celebrate the artistry and creativity that happens spontaneously on paper, on canvas, on scraps of paper, on napkins at dinner, in our notebooks on the train etc. A designer must transition from art to commerce (a real product) but the emotion and energies of these early rough beginnings are vital to keep alive in our designs, in order to create successful vehicles.
In Vehicle Design, the designer must celebrate and practice their artistic skills.
These works are selected from current and previous Vehicle Design Bachelors students of Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts.
Some works are selected from students of Transportation design at Steiglitz Academy of Art and Design in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2015 our students worked with their peers in Russia for a 10 day automotive design workshop.
June 2nd 2016 – and we celebrated another graduation year for students that began their studies of Vehicle Design in 2012. We had a little VIP invitation only event, the night before the show. Four years of hard work, ups and downs, projects and discoveries, have led to this exhibition. This year we see the first ever female Vehicle Designers leaving our course, and they certainly had very interesting projects to display. We were also very proud to see incredible diversity and variation amongst these final projects. Our students attempted to conquer land, sea, motorsport, farming, other planets and interstellar space! Quick list of projects includes, a motorbike, a rally car, a leisure boat, a tractor cabin, a vehicle for Mars, an underground mining vehicle, and a spacecraft of immense proportions. As is usual for us (we are busy!) more info will follow in a more extensive blog post….
June 2016, our second ever Vehicle Design graduation show will arrive. STANCE16 will follow a similar format to STANCE15, with a public exhibition on June 2nd, following a VIP invitation only night on June 1st. We try to invite all of you who contribute to the automotive and vehicle design business here in Finland and across the world. Apologies in advance if we leave you out- let us know as our contact list needs to expand! First we have to prepare though, and even more importantly our students must complete their 
studies by creating a final thesis and design project. This year we will have a diverse range of projects and vehicles (no spoilers, unless they have aerodynamic function!) and we hope they will prove interesting to any visitors and our followers. 2015 gained us some great press coverage, for which we are very thankful. We bring you this blog post, to show what went into the show preparations last year and to showcase some of the projects once again. Please watch this space for news of this years show, and check your inboxes for those VIP invites!
Last year, students produced a couple of traditional 1:4 scale clay/hard models, another 3D digitally printed vehicle at 1:8 scale, and impressive digitally realised designs. Here is some information from our 2015 graduates.
Pekka Puhakka / Crawler – Batmobile
The goal of my graduation project is to study Batman as a hero and the phenomenon and history behind the character. Based on my background studies my aim is to design my own visual concept of the legendary hero-car called Batmobile. The end result will be a written graduation project, finished 3Dmodel and renderings of the model in an environment that is representing Gotham City. After the final seminar the aim is to produce 3D-printed plastic scale-model car to be used in all the possible presentations that are going to be held later on. The work represents my own vision of Batmobile. It has nothing to do with DC-Comics that owns all the copyrights to Batman and Batmobile. This is a student project and it will not going to be used in any kind of commercial purposes in future.
Pekka is now working for Wärtsilä.
Viljami Räisänen / Husky Hybrid Rescue Vehicle
This is the graduation project of Vehicle Design course made in Lahti Institute of design (Lahti University of Applied Sciences) The subject of the project is a futuristic vision of a “search & rescue” vehicle for arctic regions operating both on land and in the air. In this project one concentrates on search and rescue work in certain areas, rescue methods used in arctic conditions and technology that is used in rescue vehicles operating on snowy conditions. The character of the project is meant to be a conceptual vision of future needs of search & rescue vehicle in arctic regions for a year 2035.
Viljami is now studying Transport Design Masters program at Umea University.
Olli Seppälä / Michelin Challenge
The topic of this graduation project is a competition work to an international automotive design challenge named Michelin Challenge. The Challenge has been organized almost every year and this time the brief is to design a people’s car for an already defined or self-defined market sector. I designed an electric or hybrid powered car and its market sector is South-Asia. In this project I have studied the conditions, roads, traffic and culture that affects the final design. I made a study of old car icons which have reached the people’s car-title in their own time. My concept is meant to be a very light weight and environmental friendly car and in its design process I have focused on the manufacturing. This car’s structure is 3d printed and the manufacturing is meant to happen locally close to the consumers. In this thesis I focused mostly to the car’s basic appearance, exterior and functionality but I designed also the interior to the car. This project includes a 3d-model, clay model and hard model.
Olli is currently teaching at LAMK and working freelance.
Kalle Keituri / Porsche 881
Chemistry and nature offer a lot of sustainable solutions to be used. Inspired by reactioms, forms and adaptability of advanced sciences, a conceptional idea for my graduation project was formed. By exploring the history of different car brands, Porsche was fullfilling the needs of my concept perfectly. My aim was to create a connection between Porsche design philosophy and chemistry. The concept idea is to make a bold and pure interpretation of a future Porsche sports car. My project concentrates on exterior design. Together with chemistry inspired innovative technological, material and aerodynamic solutions, the aim is to give Porsche design language another expression. The main focus in this project is the design process from early ideation sketches to an 1:4 sized scale model of the exterior and by this to develop my skills as a designer.
Antti Laukkanen / Pure Driving
Pure driving is a design study of an autonomous car interior. As it is a study of design, it is also a study of the core idea of driving and driving experience. My concept PURE differs from classic autonomous car interiors as my goal was to cherish the very original purpose of driving. Autonomous car interior concepts are almost without exception closer to normal livingrooms than what we consider automotive interiors. So in my research I focused on finding out what makes a good driving experience and how can I maintain the best possible experience, when we get rid off the steering wheel as it is essential in a contemporary car. I needed to find out what other senses and factors are activated in good driving experience. This concept is made for public use so it should show that it is accessible for wide range of users.
My research incldues the history and evolution of the car industry, its technical solutions from materials to powersources and also a new possibilities that autonomous cars bring along themselves. However, I didn’t want to go too deep in to technical solutions and manufacturability, but concentrate on materials and possible experiences and scenarios.
Big part of the research was the future and user research method, that I used to get ideas what is pure driving and which objects are essential inside the car. With this method I also wanted to show a new approach into future research and show that maybe we have to change our way of thinking about future users.
My first intention was not to brand my product for any brand but as I was doing my research I realized that it fits well in to values of Google. Google also launched their autonomous car concept little while ago so I thought that I have a good chance to show my own perspective of Google’s autonmous car interior.
The final product is presented in 2D renderings and pictures. In my design process I used also physical and computer model mockups as a design tool.
Antti is now studying Transport Design Masters program at Umea University.
Sami Kallamäki / TOBI –electric assisted trekkind bike concept
Topic of this thesis is electric assisted trekking bike concept. Design target is aesthetic trekking bike for longer distances using todays technology and tomorrows innovations. Design drivers are credibility and clearness.
Sami is still to decide on his next adventure… contact us if you would like to make him an offer!
I would now like to share these exclusive images, which were not released to the press. These are rough images from behind the scenes during the 6 months of 2015 leading to our show. Images from our workshops, our design classrooms and finally setting up and running of our public exhibition in conjunction with the entire Lahti Design Institute in 2015.
Another gallery is needed to show the actual VIP event, and also the public exhibition. Most of these images were published by other news blogs at the time, but now we add some of our own packing up images. We had no idea we would be back at the same place 2016!
Visit to Stieglitz Academy of Art & Design, St Petersburg, RUSSIA.
Eight months of planning led us to this historical moment. Vehicle Design students from Finland and Russia working together and getting to know each other, collaborating closely on solving transportation . After initial meetings in St Petersburg it was agree we would try to achieve an ambitious synergy of our courses and also a collaborative workshop. Somehow it happened in November of 2015. Our 3rd year Vehicle Design students and a special guest from the University of Lapland headed off on the 12th of November for a 10 day adventure in St. Petersburg, where we would meet with Steiglitz Academy students of Transport Design. First on the agenda, was to present our progress on a design brief that we had all agreed to earlier in October.
We began our visit presenting the results of our joint project- called No Infrastructure. We aimed to design innovative future transport systems for the remote areas of Russia and Finland. Next on our agenda for the week, was to visit many amazing museums and art galleries in St Petersburg, and to settle in during the weekend I guess you might say. We began our full week in St. Petersburg with a collaborative joint workshop at Steiglitz Academy, with the theme of creating an abstract artwork in one day, as a group. In total more than 20 students took part. The first one day intense workshop was created by our Russian colleagues Sergey Helmianov, and Vikenty Gryaznov. The exact theme was determined by each student group, based on a brief as follows “Abstract dynamic form sculpture, with a descriptive theme of your choice.”. The groups did not know each other before the day began, and language barriers meant that communication was not easy but somehow they pulled off some very interesting and exciting work within the space of just that day. A winning project was chosen, and prizes of a signed model minibus (the designer works at the academy!) were presented. 
Later that week our own teachers would set another 1 day workshop, created by vehicle design teacher Lee Walton. This time new mixed groups were formed to collaboratively work to design four different car designs for a future Hyundai Solaris. What is a Solaris, and why did we choose Hyundai? Well, midweek we had the pleasure of a factory tour at the St Petersburg Hyundai manufacturing plant, where a Russian build Hyundai Solaris car is built. This was invaluable research and experience for vehicle design students and inspired the topic of the vehicle design workshop. The broader theme was an exploration of differing styles of design. Four groups were created, with two groups exploring more traditional vehicle design practices while the rival groups worked on a more radical design philosophy. The one-day workshop created a lot of discussion, and again very impressive results. We ended our truly enjoyable visit with a sociable evening and we all felt we had made some genuine friends over in Russia. Lahti Vehicle Design department and St Petersburg are forming a close relationship for the long-term future, and we hope there will be more cooperative projects coming soon.
August at STANCE means that our school term starts, and it also means the annual trip to Vanajanlinna for the sports car show event, presented by Suomen Urheiluautoilijat. Always a great gathering of superb collectors cars, at a wonderful countryside hotel venue, anyone who’s a fan of cars will enjoy this show as much as we do. In 2014 STANCE were invited to unveil a project our students had spent many years working towards, our Gravity Racer. In 2015 we are visiting more informally (maybe you’ll see us there) but I thought I would remind you all about the show, and publish some images regarding our Gravity Racer, or Soap Box car as they also known. A huge amount of work was put into this car, completed in 2014 by our first Vehicle Design graduates (2015 graduating class), with help from Lappeenranta University of Technology, and our own Fashion Design students for their expert fabric knowledge.
Studio shots of the design show the attention to detail of our students work. The process of creating the vehicle was lengthy and experimental. It is entirely custom made using a welded steel tubular chassis with cotton fabric fitted and stretched over the top. Check the gallery for more images.
On the evening of June 1st 2015, we welcomed a small number of selected VIP guests, to our exclusive designers preview night for Lahti Institute of Design’s Vehicle Design graduation works in Helsinki Finland. The Finnish car design community was well represented, along with our students and graduates. We made a special effort to thank the movers and the shakers, the people that have worked hard for more than 10 years to lay the foundations for our current Vehicle Design course. Our event was part of a larger Institute of Design exhibition, which we also took part in on the following day at Kattilahalli, an ex-power station hall in Finland’s capital, Helsinki.
2015 is our inaugural graduation year, and after four years studying and practising professional vehicle design, we were very proud to present our group of pioneering graduates. They displayed wide-ranging design proposals based on their own independent research. More images of their projects will follow this blog post very soon.
2015 is the year that our first Vehicle Design students will graduate. Vehicle Design has always been part of our curriculum here, but 4 years ago we began teaching it as a full time Bachelors level degree. After 4 years our students reach a high level of competence, and to showcase their skills they collaborated on a project led by a professional car designer. The project gained recognition in the automotive design world, being featured on Auto&Design Facebook page and kickstarting a lot of local press attention too.
Our student’s brief was to create a new benchmark for a premium electric vehicle segment in the year 2025. It was to be branded Mercedes-Benz.
After three intensive months of design studies and weekly concept development stages, here is the final design.
The story of the design is shown at Behance, or in the following gallery.
