May 2021: Graduation in 2021 came early for our students, as the deadline and process moves earlier in the year each time. To the entire word’s surprise we are in exactly the same situation as 2020, thanks to the global COVID19 pandemic continuing. Our entire graduation process has been online from the very beginning this year, which presented unique motivation and working practice problems. We are proud to see that our students have coped very well with this situation! All seminars were conducted remotely, and once again a degree show exhibition was organised mostly via Instagram but with an added innovative public display across the city of Lahti. The open air presentation materials are of course much easier to view during the continued restrictions (for example, our campus remains closed).
STANCE 21 is once again limited to this blog/instagram format. What follows is information on each vehicle design project presented in 2021. One of this years projects remains confidential- but hopefully a later edit to this blog post will reveal it! We did manage to meet up at our favourite venue, Ace Cafe. Always a pleasure to be at such a famous motoring themed place and people. Summer was delayed as usual over here, and we had a rainy evening at Ace Cafe. Restrictions meant we could only be there a couple of hours, and in small numbers, but it is great to see that the Cafe is open serving excellent food and it was nice to see some old faces. We shared the tour of the new museum on InstagramTV. The STANCE 21 Award winner was announced as Valtteri Valli, and his is the first project listed below. Congratulations to Valtteri!
Valtteri Valli
Jeep Adaptive – An urban car built for adventure
The inspiration for my graduation project came from an interest in functional design, compact vehicles and outdoor lifestyle. Through these interests, I had the idea to design a product that I saw answering a need of the future. This project is a vehicle concept with which I wanted to explore the idea of having a truly capable vehicle for both urban life and off-road adventures. I wanted to try to diminish the contrast of an off-roader and a city car by trying to combine the best of both worlds, into a true two-in-one vehicle concept. The vehicle were to be suitable for the city and answer urban life’s requirements, but have all the capability when moving off-road into challenging terrain. With this, I had set a brief for creating a compact vehicle concept for Jeep, for the year 2030. Focusing on building functional solutions and using new technologies, I planned to design a visually captivating and believable concept for both off-road and urban driving. The vehicle had to be electric and have space for maximum of 1+1 passengers. The package was to be as small as possible and possess the capability to transform from a city-going into an off-road capable vehicle.
2021 Award Winning project by Valtteri Valli
Joona Lahtinen
ASTEREON – Character Concept for Transformers
Astereon is an original vehicle/character design project for the Transformers franchise, with a goal of creating a believable concept that is aligned with the source material and established aesthetics. This project explores storytelling with design and the landscape of Entertainment design through research, and experimentation. For Joona’s project, the main goal was to concept and design a Transformer inspired by the designs from the Transformer’s universe. 3D-models of the vehicle and robot mode were produced in the 3D-software Blender.
Veena Koskinen
leef – Interior Design concept for community car utilising photosynthesis
This graduation work considers possibilities to use photosynthesis and its end products in the interior design of a vehicle. The future of photosynthesis technology and its possibilities are explored through interviews, and from literature. The concept includes a plant wall that generates energy from the Sun using plant microbial fuel cell technology, PMFCs. The floor of the vehicle participates in the generation of energy through photosynthesis. Additionally, the interior consists of different materials the production of which used the end products of photosynthesis. The light intake of the interior has been a top priority to maximise the benefit of solar energy for the plants and organisms using photosynthesis. The shapes and colours of the interior design were strongly inspired by nature and leaves of plants.
Eeli Ravea
Tesla Model Z
The subject of this graduation project was to showcase a vision of what a high-speed electric family car could look like in 2040. Its conceptual goal was to challenge current ways of travelling long distances in an independent and CO2-free way. You may already be thinking why would we need a high-speed family car when its not legal to drive even at 90 miles per hour? That’s why the concept wasn’t only about designing a new kind of electric powered personal vehicle but a new infrastructural concept as well. It was named Tesla Highway Network. The network was designed to allow highly developed automated vehicles to travel at high speeds without human error being a safety concern. The purpose of this project was to offer an alternative for air travelling and that way reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time it aimed to make it easier and carefree to travel to meet relatives in another state for instance.
Ruusu-Maria Tuominen
Mercedes Benz Cuckoo CitySkier konsepti 2035
The subject of thesis is Michelin Challenge design competition work, which theme was ”Inspiring mobility”. The thesis dealt with the ways of moving in big cities and their problems. The work was limited to Berlin in year 2035. The topic was backgrounded by examining the most typical light vehicles and their limitations under the law of the target country. On the basis of the acquired knowledge by applying and combining already existing mode of movement graduated concept, which connects the two vehicles into one service. The result was the aim of the vehicle and the user interface, which together create an alternative mode of travel to Berlin in parallel with an emphasis on public transport timetables independent travel.
You can also rewatch the final seminar presentations of our student works, from this YouTube video recording of our Zoom seminars. The feedback from staff and examiners has been omitted – as this was private for our students to improve their work in future. We were very pleased to have help from a Finnish car design legend, who previously worked for Pininfarina, Mazda, and Tesla. It was a coincidence that one of our students presented a Tesla project!
June 2020 – This year we celebrated the graduation of students that started their studies in the autumn of 2016. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic the Institute of Design Degree Show could be organised this time only on social media platforms. The Institute of Design Degree Show was titled SPECTRUM. The STANCE20 show was held side-by-side with the MI Degree Show on STANCE social media channels.
All graduating students of 2020 were invited to display their graduation projects on the virtual STANCE2020 show. The show drew some valuable attention, although without an actual exhibition display, reaching a local audience turned out more difficult than usual. Some of the Vehicle Design projects were on display at the MI Degree Show, but the STANCE2020 show exhibited a total of 9 different vehicle design graduation projects. We were proud to show a large variety on the graduation projects; from entry-level super cars and specialised vehicles to production-ready trailers and service design concepts. These are the projects in our student’s own words.
KORG MEW/40 is a shared mobile workspace for electronic music. It provides tools for extensive music and sound creation as well as sharing and streaming. The vehicle is targeted at a niche demographics of professional and amateur musicians.
MEW/40 uses visionary technology such as haptic hologram touch-control and a generative music tool. The concept emphasizes KORG’s impact on sound technology over the last 40 years and envisions the brand’s future identity, while assessing the possibility of a vehicle concept.
Antti Tirri
Yoga Balasana
Yoga Balasana is a vehicle concept for a city in 2040. This project goes through current and upcoming trends in our society. The concept is visually based on slow living and yoga. The final product is a 3D model and renders of an autonomous vehicle, where one can practise yoga inside.
Jarkko Salonen
Polestar Prebike
Polestar Prebike is an all-electric motorcycle concept for the year 2025. The electric car manufacturer Polestar was chosen as the brand for the project. Polestar is a pioneer in technology and sustainability in its field.
In this scenario, Polestar wants to expand into the motorcycle market by creating new innovative solutions and developing already existing technology into a smaller and more efficient form. In the project, I study how Polestar’s values, technology and new design language can be brought to motorcycles.
Julius Ranta
2030 MITSUBISHI Urban EV Concept
2030 Mitsubishi Urban EV Concept is an urban car concept for the year 2030. The concept car shows what a small urban vehicle could look like in the future and what new possibilities future technologies bring.
Mitsubishi Urban EV Concept is a four-seater electric vehicle powered by two electric hub motors inside the rear wheels. The hub motors free up space from the front which gives more space for the interior. The objective was to have as large an interior as possible in the smallest exterior dimensions.
The design of Mitsubishi Urban EV Concept emphasises functionality and user-friendliness. It prioritises interior space and comfort, which is made possible by an intelligent layout, large smart window surfaces and a partial autonomous driving system. The concept has an advanced driving assist system for driving in urban streets, and on rural roads it can drive completely autonomously. The steering wheel can be folded behind the dashboard and the front seats can be rotated 180 degrees when the vehicle is driving autonomously. The large smart windows can display information for the passengers as well as change the tint and cloudiness of its surface. During parking, the windows can be made opaque to block the visibility inside the vehicle.
Tuomas Tolonen
DÆRK DRAGON
The task of DÆRK DRAGON project was to design an autonomous luxury vehicle for the Chinese market. The goal was to create a symphony of new technology in a luxurious environment. It includes new features such as hybrid hydrogen fuel cell drivetrain and hologram & gesture control. As a result of this project, a 3D model was made.
Matias Laaksonen
Lunaliner Concept Car 2030
I did my Graduation Project for Oy Lunawood Ltd which is a global marketing leader in Thermowood manufacturing. In this project I studied the suitability of Lunawood materials for a car and especially for its interior while implementing the best possible concept car to market Lunawood’s products.
The concept car to be implemented is set for 2030 when increased population growth will significantly increase traffic jams. At the same time, the concept is a solution for replacing time lost in traffic jams and utilize it with the benefits of the concept car. In this project, I testified that making a car is more environmentally friendly with the help of right materials and design.
Nicklas Sundvall
Weckmann WS90M
In this graduation project I deal with the re-design of Weckman Steel Oy’s M-model series WS90M trailer. The purpose was to improve the overall appearance of the trailer by visually modernizing the look with new components, colors and graphics. In addition to the above, the trailer should be kept as cost-effective and easy to manufacture as possible, in order to be competitive in price. As a result, a 3D model was made that can be used to make a prototype of a trailer.
Jaakko Järvinen
GACHA Robot Bus Service Design Concept
The main goal of this thesis was to produce a service design concept for Sensible 4 and Nokia to visualize scenarios that the GACHA robot bus could face in the area of Karamalmi Espoo. The scenarios were dedicated evenly between Sensible 4 and Nokia.
Esa Mustonen
RAW by Koeniggsegg
RAW by Koenigsegg is a digital concept car created by Esa Mustonen for RAW Design House as his Graduation Thesis. The work was carried out under supervision and support of Christian von Koenigsegg and Sasha Selipanov. The concept car envisions a futuristic entry-level hyper car under an imagined “RAW by Koenigsegg” sub-brand.
RAW by Koenigsegg makes use of the world famous Koenigsegg technologies and know-hows. Mounted behind the innovative 3 seat carbon fiber occupant cell is the 3 cylinder Freevalve TFG engine which was first shown to the world in the Koenigsegg Gemera. Our ambition was to use Koenigsegg Automotive’s vast composite and light-weighting experience to aim for an unprecedented 700hp and 700kg, a new interpretation for the 1:1 power to weight ratio. On top of this, RAW by Koenigsegg has a strong focus on innovative aerodynamics with its flow-through architecture and jet fighter afterburner inspired articulated rear diffuser.
RAW by Koenigsegg offers a new type of user experience as it can be used in both the real and the virtual world. The car allows its user an opportunity to experience its performance and influence its setup in either real life or digital states using already existing highly correlative racing simulators.
RAW by Koenigsegg is an exciting vision of what a light weight entry-level hyper car of the future could look like.
The 2020 Stance Award is awarded to Esa Mustonen for his outstanding entry-level super car project at Koenigsegg.
March 2019 – World Premiere of GACHA bus – which began in 2017 as the AiGo research project.
aiGO Autonomous Bus Design Project 2017 – 2019
aiGO (A.I- Go!) was a 1 year design project integrated into Lahti Institute of Design learning processes, with multiple teams working on this funded client project.
Project manager Lee Walton decided to separate the design process for this ambitious project (to design and build a unique vehicle in 12 months!) into 2 distinct paths. Both processes began in September 2017. In total 37 students from various year groups, and specialities within Lahti Insitute of Design worked on this project.
Path 1: User Centred Interior and Exterior design for aIGO prototype vehicle.
This design path was taken by a small group of 2nd year students (12 total) of Vehicle Design, under the close direction of Lee Walton and experienced vehicle designer Timo Suomala (representing Sensible4 directly). The chief aim of this path was to create a 1:1 sized mock-up model of the bus interior, and to design the interior and exterior appearance and functionality of the prototype vehicle (to be constructed in 2018). The launch of the finished vehicle was very ambitiously scheduled for early 2019.
Path 2: User Centred Service and Strategic Design concepts, for aIGO steering group.
This design path was taken on by a multi-discipline group of 4th year Vehicle Design, Industrial Design, and Packaging & Branding Design students (25 students in total). This large group was split into 5 smaller groups who generated strategic product development concepts from in depth user research and detailed service design scenarios.
Some key milestones:
Kick-off to the project was in Helsinki on 14.9.2017 at the client Sensible 4 offices. Students were introduced to the engineering layout and ergonomics brief on 18.09.2017. I will explain results of each path in reverse order, as Path 2 was shortened at the request of our client.
User Scenarios – Path 2
A workshop day was arranged for 25.6.2017. A number of key clients to the aIGO project were invited to Lahti to take part in interview based workshops with our students. 6 Clients attended, and each client was placed with a small group of students. 25 students were divided equally among clients. Each group intentionally contained students from all 3 design specialities, Vehicle Design, Industrial Design, and Branding Design. Below you can see those client interviews in process. This day also enable all students to meet our main design client, the CEO of Sensible4, who formally presented the project to all involved.
Figure 1. The beginning: User Scenario workshops 2017
The client workshop yielded 6 interesting scenarios, but this was reduced from 6 to only 5 due to a couple of scenarios being very similar. This enabled us to propose to our client, that we develop 5 very different product concepts. Students re-arranged themselves into topics that interested them. Group sizes were not equal, as they were based on motivation. Path 1 participants were much more experienced 4th year students who were given more freedom and autonomy in their work. Only a few key dates were scheduled for check-ups on their progress. The end results of their projects were presented to the client in person, on 28.11.2017. Below are a couple of examples from slideshows presented by students. Figure 3 shows a ski-bus scenario- privately rented and controlled by a group of friends, and Figure 4 shows how the bus could be implemented in the city of Tampere for an older generation of users. An enormous amount of information was presented by 5 groups.
Figure 3
Figure 4
Prototype Design – Path 1
Path 2 was much more intense and much more heavily guided by project design managers and the client. Sensible4 provided CAD data and confidential information for their technical solutions. They also invited students to visit their office and see the technology for themselves. The process consisted of planning around the users, and potential passengers of this bus. This 2nd year group of students was tasked with measuring and creating dimensioned and accurate layouts for the ergonomic requirements of the vehicle. The client dictated some basic limits, and mechanical layouts, and students needed to package people around this. Creative ideas began the process, but the most important achievement was to build a wooden mock-up of the bus interior. Students started with a very rough layout idea, see figure 5.
Figure 5 – Quick interior layout ideation
After client feedback, 2 different seating layouts of the vehicle were chosen and students very quickly constructed a full size wooden mock-up of the bus interior showing both layouts. This was viewed by all participants in the project, and our client was very impressed and pleased to sit in his bus! This mock-up was carefully measured by the CAD team of Sensible4 and directly affected the prototype layout. The design of our students was implemented almost fully by the client. The mock-up proved to be incredibly valuable for the design process. This mock-up was available for a highly secretive visit by Japanese designers representing MUJI. They were so impressed they funded the project, and later took over design management from us. Figures 6 and 7 show the large scale of the mock-up (still a very small bus).
Figure 6 – Wooden interior mock-up
Figure 7 – testing accessibility
I am unable to share confidential data in this blog post (regarding actual dimensions and design drawings) but I can share images of our happy client sitting in his bus design. See Figure 8. After completion of this task on 31.11.2017 the students began designing the exterior of the bus. The user centred nature of public transport design dictates that it should always be designed from the inside outwards.
Figure 8 – Sensible4 CEO lunch break
Figure 9 – Young testers too..
Students from Path 2 were presented with information from Path 1. The crossover of ideas worked in terms of user research, which helped inform many discussions for the project. A welcoming and friendly design was needed, and accessibility of the interior was a concern. The process consisted of individual design development by all students, in competition with each other, at all stages of Path 2. Eventually the exterior designs in particular, were narrowed to just 2 key design themes. The students that created these were placed into an Exterior design team (just 3 students) while all others (9 students) were selected to develop the more complex variations within the interior design. Each lesson was conducted with our client representative design manager Timo Suomala, and some sessions included our client via teleconference. Just before creating ideas for the exterior design, students visited the client to hear about the sensor technology that must be integrated. Figure 10 shows that client meeting, and then Figure 11 is an example of a design review day, for exterior concepts.
Figure 10 – client meeting (sensor integration)
Figure 11 – Students prepare a sketch presentation to the client
Figure 12 – Example ideation sketch
Final presentations of Path 2 were on 14.12.2017. Interior and Exterior designs were shown, and many details were discussed at great length (the whole day) with our client via their design representative and on teleconference. All materials were shared with our client at all times. The results (the chosen designs) are confidential and omitted from this article.
2017 ended with 2 clear exterior design directions (very subtle detail differences) and some excellent requests from our client, for clarification on a number of points. The interior design task is huge, and the results were fantastic in terms of range and scope. The task for 2018 was to finalize those we can do, and those that we cannot. Our client aimed to begin construction of the framework, early 2018, and our exterior design plans were planned to be developed into usable CAD data during 2018. Interior has a similar path, running slightly behind the exterior timeline.
Figure 13 – Exterior development in clay (client viewing).
This is about the time that our previous secret visitors decided to invest heavily into the project, and to take over design responsibilities from us (only Sensible 4 know exactly when the MUJI deal was signed). This was a huge success story for a start-up such as Sensible4 and added massive funding and expertise to the project. The later stages of the design were led by Timo Suomala (and not Lee Walton) as the design school stepped aside and let MUJI and Sensible4 focus on producing the running prototype for the start of 2019! Two of our students were chosen by Sensible4 to work as interns during the summer of 2018, to assist Timo and MUJI with the final design and build process. Those talented individuals were Jaakko Järvinen and Jarkko Salonen (see fig. 14). They worked essentially as the internal design team for Sensible 4, while externally the project was managed by MUJI Design. This proved to be an ideal situation for the project, but collaborating with a remote Japanese studio, while based in Helsinki can not have been easy! The team grew in size, and did an amazing job as the project came closer to reality.
Figure 14- Our bearded interns at work… (Jarkko left, Jaakko on the right). Image from GACHA presentation in March 2019
MUJI GACHA 2018 – 2019
Officially, GACHA is a collaboration between Japanese furniture company MUJI and Finnish autonomous driving company Sensible 4. It is designed to be a ‘self-driving’ bus that functions under all weather conditions. MUJI take full credit for design of GACHA (copyrights were transferred to Sensible4 from the very beginning, and MUJI invested heavily into the project).
Figure 15 – World Premiere presentation
Figure 16 – MUJI design image – mobile shop concept
The final prototype build of the MUJI GACHA was guided by Timo Suomala and design work was done by Jaakko Järvinen at Sensible 4 (Jaakko continued to work on the project well into 2020!). The conceptual idea of a “Gacha” was a stroke of genius from MUJI design team, with cultural and aesthetic reference to the Gashapon capsule toy craze in Japan. These are vending machines that give out plastic capsules with random toys inside (see figure 15-17). The idea was, that the anonymous and versatile shape of the autonomous vehicle created by Sensible 4, could be used to “capsulise” and transport anything, not just passengers- was brilliant and really sets the GACHA bus apart from other concepts. Toyota later revealed a very similar direction for their own autonomous vehicle technology. A versatile platform, not just one vehicle.
Figure 17- Inspiration of GACHA bus design. A capsule.
https://youtu.be/W0oxz9KpiIY
Figure 18 – Official MUJI video presentation
Results were stunning.
One of the most exciting parts of the process happened in March 2019. The vehicle project became a fully functioning reality- and was unveiled to the world’s press on 8th March, at Helsinki Oodi library. Thanks to the MUJI brand, and their plans to open a store in Helsinki that same year- the press coverage was extensive. Project manager Lee Walton attended the premiere, and actually got to ride inside the bus. After testing the initial interior mock-up a year before, the similarities were very apparent. Our project kick-starting exactly the right user experience and mood that made it all the way to the final vehicle. The bench seats in particular- inspired by Finnish sauna culture and community seating layout were a standout feature. This interior aspect was talked up by MUJI chief designer in his presentation at the premiere, referencing the sauna influence. The bus drove smoothly on our test drive, in snow and ice. The interior ambience was particularly light, friendly and spacious for such a small vehicle.
Figure 19 – World Premiere test rides- LAMK logo in foreground.
Figure 20 – Gallery of premiere event photos
During 2019 Sensible4 have received many accolades, such as Start-up of the year etc. The GACHA vehicle itself gained lots of attention, and universal praise for MUJI design. The bus won a very prestigious design award, from the London Design Museum within the transportation category for 2019. We couldn’t be more proud, as our student’s contribution was valuable right until the end of the project. We would also like to thank CEO Harri Santamala for approaching us and having the foresight to involve our young inexperienced design students. We are extremely happy that Lahti Institute of Design was the first place that came to his mind when attempting such an ambitious project. This is why we do what we do- and the success of this project gives us huge pleasure.
May 2019. The Institute of Design held a degree show again. Reminiscent of previous joint exhibitions, not held since 2016, this show was conceptually a rebirth (too many rumours of our untimely death). The title was REBUILT.
All graduating students of 2019 were invited to display their final design projects – and the location was our new campus at ISKU. We wanted to attract visitors curious about our new place, and we wanted to show our own friends that we share this new joint campus with, just what we do in the Design Institute. STANCE19 was integrated with this main exhibition. The event was curated and designed by a large team of talented staff and students. Vehicle Design graduates exhibited 7 graduation projects and one very special production vehicle. Let us start by explaining that one in the words of RMK themselves!
On 1st of February 2019, RMK Vehicle Corporation unveiled their first electric motorcycle, the RMK E2 at the MP19 Motorcycle Show in Helsinki, Finland. The E2 will be manufactured in Finland and production is slated to begin in late 2019.
The E2 packs a punch. 50 kW of power and an instant torque of 320 Nm will guarantee great performance with a limited top speed of 160 km/h. The unconventional motor setup offers a smaller rotational mass and unsprung weight that is comparable to traditional motor setups. The battery gives a range of 200 – 300 km depending on driving style.
The RMK E2 was designed by RMK with the help of our student Miikka Salovaara. Miikka contributed concept sketches and graphic design, working closely with the small RMK design team to create this bike. RMK are a lean start-up company so all hands were needed to create this radical design. The engineering of the hubless rear wheel and motor is particularly unique. We were very happy that RMK agree to display the bike for a few days at our STANCE/Rebuilt exhibition at Lahti University of Applied Sciences. It is very imposing in the metal.
Aukusti Mokkala
Vision for 2050 Megacity Law Enforcement
This is
a VTOL -aircraft designed for rapid deployment of up to four Law Enforcement
officers. It takes the manoeuvrability of a helicopter and combines it with
the structure of a car. The compact design allows it to manoeuvre and land in
within the narrowest spaces of a megacity. It features twin rotors for vertical
lift and two auxiliary rotors for thrust, as well as a wide variety of short to
long range -sensors for monitoring its surroundings. The bright colours ensure
visibility and bolster a strong but friendly presence. My goal was to create a
unique, yet believable design that is suitable for movies and games.
Atte Nurminen
Lamborghini Raton, Autonomous Supercar
Lamborghini Raton is an autonomous supercar for the future, featuring
advantages of next generation automotive technologies. The goal is to replace
the pleasure of driving by new kind of user experience. The low sitting position
at the front brings a sense of speed.
The in-turned wheels create a new kind of connection
between user and machine. Raton is designed to look like a true Lamborghini
with the classic design features of their supercars.
Jukka Ossi
The next
D-segment SEAT passenger car
The Spanish car brand SEAT does not currently
have a passenger car model in the D-segment. The goal of the graduation work was
to design a proposal for a car of that segment based on the research work done.
The D-segment includes car models such as: Volkswagen Passat, Opel Insignia and
Volvo V60.
Kristian Talvitie
Bugatti AOS
Our world is faster and more connected than
ever. The line between the real world and virtual is thinner than ever. This
world has many changing effects on human
life and thinking. From an evolutionary perspective point we are at the
beginning of drastic change. In this work my intention is to study what kind of
experience the future customer of Bugatti needs and to develop concept based on
that.
Iiro Laine and Antti Paakari
Northern Multifunction Vehicle
In this graduation project we designed
fully electric multifunctional vehicle for Northern environment. In this
project we discuss about Northern circumstances and its challenges for vehicles.
Our vehicle is designed around electric powertrain and adaptability for weather
conditions and needs of the user. In our design process we discuss ideation, sketching
by drawing, clay modelling, 3D-scanning and 3D-modeling.
Samuli Maliniemi
Keletric – Design research for Finnish small
electric motorcycle.
In my
Bachelor’s Thesis I have designed a houseboat for private use. It is suitable
for year-round living in Finland’s varied weather conditions. The houseboat strives
to solve the challenges of urban living in the future. Urbanization and rising
sea levels resulting from climate change can affect the emergence of new forms
of living in Finland as well as in the rest of the world. The houseboat I have
designed is environmentally friendly and it is also suitable for going at the
high seas.
Janne Mustonen
Piaggio P107
As a graduation project I
researched the near future of aviation and created a flying boat concept. This
project does not reshape the aviation infrastructure but helps to understand it
and its challenges. A result is a realistic concept that offers private
transportation to remote locations in and outside of the infrastructure.
2019 Stance Award winner was announced later that week, at the Ace Corner venue. We really like our friends at Ace Corner and once again we met for an informal beer & burger chat with our outgoing students. That sunny evening the award for best project was presented to Janne Mustonen for his outstanding work on an electric aircraft project. Janne has a deep passion for aviation, and this project was a true labour of love for him- and the result was quite spectacular and unique.
Well, we are a bit late reporting this… but way back in November 2018 we once again took part in the PUSHKA International Design Forum, in competition with all our friends in Russia (and more). Our students entered into a Transportation Design contest, to once again propose innovative cargo solutions. This year our students triumphed and won ALL 3 top places. 1st 2nd and 3rd prizes were ours!
We had our own prize-giving event back in Lahti, as it was difficult for all of our entries to visit Moscow. Our students entered as groups, and this in our opinion- gave them maximum ability to innovate. The croups were encouraged to throw ideas back and forth, and then aim for something radical as a result. The prize winners were: 1st place: Ruusu-Maria Laihonen, Anorico Adam Joaquin – 3D Express 2nd place: Esa Mustonen, Julius Ranta, Inka Tiikkainen – Self-driving cargo transportation unit. 3rd place: Nicklas Sundvall, Matias Pekkonen – AFV-68 (Artificial Farming Vehicle 2068)
1st place: Ruusu-Maria Laihonen, Anorico Adam Joaquin – 3D Express
2nd place: Esa Mustonen, Julius Ranta, Inka Tiikkainen
3D Express – 1st Place
Self-driving cargo transportation unit – 2nd Place
AFV-68 (Artificial Farming Vehicle 2068) – 3rd Place
A few weeks ago STANCE18 happened. This blog post is running late, thanks to our exciting process of moving our entire Design Institute to a new campus facility! More news on this soon, but by coincidence we are moving to become very close neighbours of Ace Corner and the Motorcycle Museum. This was again our chosen venue for STANCE18 and once we are based nearby perhaps we will be more frequent visitors? Ace Corner is a friendly place that always makes us feel welcome. This year our exhibition was quite small – more projects will actually be unveiled later this year – but we had awesome Ace Burgers and a few beers and celebrated another group of talented Finnish designers leaving us for the wider world!
The weather this May was truly exceptional. The hottest for 30 years in Finland and we enjoyed the evening looking out across the vast lake we have here in Lahti. STANCE is about networking, it is about making sure that students, alumni, staff, businesses or anyone in Finland interested in transportation and vehicle design can get together socially. I will waste no more blog space and will let our students explain their own graduation projects (useful to have abstracts written in English), and you can see there were one or two other interesting things we exhibited. Finally we brought back our Suzuki 750cc motorbike that the museum had donated to us! Our students had transformed it into a Cafe Racer.
We also partnered with our usual sponsors Rightware (of Kanzi UI software fame), plus a newcomer called AirShaper! Rightware helped us present our annual STANCE Award- given for our favourite project of the exhibition. There have only been 4 winners of STANCE awards previously, and 2 of those are working in OEM vehicle design studios right now! In 2016 we also awarded a special online version, just that once. This year a project stood out at the show- for exhibiting a 1:5 scale clay model. Ivo Mukkulainen received the 2018 Rightware STANCE Award for his tireless dedication to creating a beautiful Jaguar branded design. His reward this year, was a 4 month internship at Rightware design office in Helsinki. We wish him the best of luck with his career. An exciting part of Ivo’s project was aerodynamic testing of his model, in a wind tunnel. How did we achieve this? Well it wasn’t a real wind tunnel, just a digital simulation thanks to a new online service created by AirShaper.com. A special offer of €500 simulation time (using their digital wind tunnel costs less than a real one!) was created just for us at STANCE, and you simply have to follow this link and sign up to their newsletter (it’ll cost you your email address) and they could pick you to receive the €500! This offer is only for STANCE followers, and your chances are VERY high!
Ivo can explain his project topic himself:
Ivo Mukkulainen
Jaguar SVO Project 9 – Future Classic
The subject is a classic car of the future.
I want to show how driver’s passion can continue in the future, considering future technology and standards.
New possibility to drive on the race track and not to be scared about consequences.
How Jaguar heritage and design DNA will continue in the future.
Heidi Yli-Suvanto
The North Face Exploration Vehicle
This graduation project is a conceptual exploration vehicle that is branded for The North Face and is suitable for both urban and natural environments. A major goal of this project is to encourage people who have spent most of their lives in the city to explore and feel comfortable going to areas outside of the urban environment. The inspiration, and overarching goal of this project, is to facilitate eye-opening experiences in nature and inspire people to take better care of their surroundings.
Mika Niskavaara
KTM 360 Electric Motorcycle Concept
My graduation project is an electric motorcycle concept for freeriding and exploring urban environments. With this concept l’m going to explore solutions and possibilities for urban freeriding. l’m aiming to introduce new ideas to the motorcycle industry inspired by bmx and freestyle mountain biking.
Mikke Leinonen
Nissan Kirei – Future Classic
My final project is the future classic vehicle concept. The car is designed for the year 2025 and vehicle should win the Concours d’Elegance competition in 2050.
The main focus of the project concentrates on the exterior design of the vehicle.The car should stand out from the mass and awaken great emotions.The car has to be futuristic and there should be elements that make it a classic in the future. I have chosen Nissan for the brand, because I’m not so familiar with Nissan. I also wanted to choose a brand that does not have a classic car so far. The purpose of my project is to be a Vanguard for the Nissan and help the brand to create a classic car in the future.
I’ve tried to find elements and issues for the project that make products classic and iconic. The written part of the thesis consists of the steps of the project’s progress, brand history and Concours d’Elegance competition.
Peppi-Emilia Salmi
Trimoto – Endurance Motorcycle Trailer
The thesis focuses on designing a motorcycle transport trailer. With the market research, I strive to create a potential and useful concept for the market.
The result should be an affordable, lightweight and functional entity for fluctuations a Finnish weather conditions. The trailer should be able to carry two or three full size enduro motorcycles and their drivers’ accessories.
The thesis is perceived with a 3D model made by the Autodesk Fusion 360 modeling program and the physical 1:6 model.
Perttu Susi
Hukka Houseboat
In my Bachelor’s Thesis I have designed a houseboat for private use. It is suitable for year-round living in Finland’s varied weather conditions. The houseboat strives to solve the challenges of urban living in the future. Urbanization and rising sea levels resulting from climate change can affect the emergence of new forms of living in Finland as well as in the rest of the world. The houseboat I have designed is environmentally friendly and it is also suitable for going at the high seas.
Tatu Konttinen
Vator 27DC – Reviving a Finnish Boat Brand
The subject of this thesis is a study and a concept of reviving Vator boats with a new model and development of a businessmodel. Vator is a dead brand which used to be one of the biggest boat companies in Finland.
The procecution of the idea required research about contemporary boating and how it should evolve in the future.
The idea of owning things is changing and since boating is concidered as an expencive hobby there is no doubt that it wont affect the boating culture aswell. Major part of the process is to focus on customer needs and demands in the near future without forgetting a boat that suits multiple purposes.
Teemu Paavola
Mega Yacht Concept for 2040
This thesis is about future possibilities of yachting and new younger generation users.
Focus on this thesis is on future technologies and younger users. What is possible in the future and what do the younger generation want from their yachts. A fictional user has been created for this thesis to get more realistic end result. User is based on a future research. The design of this yacht came from the futures possibilities and functions that user needs. There is no companies or any other contractors.
Thesis is fully based on a research and fictional user needs. Design is created based on research and sketching all the way to the final 3d model.
2017 was an interesting year for us at STANCE. Many of our students are out there in the wide world, making their way in further design studies and we have even reached the point where some are graduating at a Masters level. In January our lecturer caught up with our student at the RCA in London, and we were very pleased to see two more of our graduates succeed him on the course.
Thanks to some issues with a passport- our travelling to see friends in Russia was somewhat limited. Despite this- our lecturer Lee Walton managed to gain an award. Our students participated in a short design competition, for the PUSHKA Design Forum in Moscow. Their brief was to design an automated delivery vehicle for the TRAFT brand.
3rd year student Iiro Laine placed 2nd overall in the PUSHKA Design Forum design competition, and was awarded a certificate and prize by the Traft company. Iiro’s innovative but simple concept, proposed re-using existing transportation trailers with modern self-driving tractor units.
Highlights of 2017 (our annual graduation show STANCE18 will be happening 25th of May in Lahti, watch this space!)
Kalle Keituri, our alumni of 2015 graduated from RCA London, then began his professional career as a designer at Rolls-Royce Motor cars in the UK.
Henri Hokkanen our alumni of 2016, began his professional career as a Designer at Valtra Inc, Jyväskylä.
Antti Vahtola, our alumni of 2017 began his Masters studies at Umea Institute and this year placed 2nd in the BRP Student Design competition, titled Urban Arctic Mobility.
Hilja-Maria Kaitila, and Olli Seppällä both began their Masters at the RCA.
Mikael Serjala and Mika Karjalainen began Masters studies at SPD in Milan.
2017 marks our third ever graduation year, and our graduates displayed wide-ranging vehicle proposals based on their own independent research and collaboration with industry clients. We still like to use our unofficial name and brand STANCE here at Finland’s first and only full-time Vehicle Design study programme. This year we wanted to emphasise that we are from Lahti (not Helsinki!) and that we are based in the small but world famous Lahti Institute of Design. Lahti is something of a motor-city in Finland, with a strong automotive culture. There’s also a bus factory based here. That particular place was part of a project to design and build Saunabussi (yes, a bus with a sauna inside) which two of our students were involved with. We were very grateful to have Saunabussi visiting our STANCE17 event! Interestingly, the first franchise of London’s Ace Corner Cafe is right here in Lahti Finland. We teamed up with Ace Corner Finland to host our degree show. Ace Corner is also the location for Finland’s largest motorcycle museum. Our event gave VIP visitors access to the motorcycle museum for free- and we thank the owners of Ace Cafe for that privilege. On the evening of 24th we presented our STANCE award, sponsored by our good friends at Rightware (one of Finland’s top vehicle industry partners). The award for best project this year, was given to Ilja Oikarinen for his innovative plastic concept vehicle. The Pod-Vehicle concept is an autonomous vehicle that owners can sleep inside- and can be owned, or even rented like a Japanese pod-hotel – for mega-city workers to sleep near their place of work. Other commendable projects included Waltter Holm’s Patria armoured vehicle concept. A very comprehensive and detailed design project, with the most accurate and detailed model we have ever seen at our institute. Two students, Antti Vahtola and Antti Alasalmi, returned just in time from Turin Italy, where they had been working at the Changan Automotive Europe design studio. They completed the Chagan Serenity visual identity concept thesis work at that studio. This type of collaboration with industry is a vital part of our learning process and we are incredibly grateful to Changan Automotive for all their help. We would like to thank Patria, Covestro, Lada Moscow, Changan Automotive, Rightware and of course Ace Corner for all their help contributing to this years successful projects and exhibition.
Mikael Kosonen
Police Multi Terrain Vehicle
The subject of this graduation project is to create a concept for a new kind of police vehicle for finding missing people in off-road environments. This thesis examines missing person search operations and associated problems and tries to find answers to these questions. At this moment a searching process is usually too complicated and public authorities don`t have any vehicles made for this use. Also the resources are limited, because effective search operations need so many people to join them.
Police Multi-Terrain Vehicle
Henri Helvilä
ORCA
This graduation project is about designing a marine rescue vehicle. I try to find the issues surrounding current rescue vehicles and concentrated on finding solutions to the problems that complicate the operations of the current rescue boats. The final product is purely conceptual vehicle and also my vision of the ideal small marine rescue vehicle. The vehicle is operated by one person, and it’s capable of transporting another person along with the driver.
ORCA Marine Rescue Vehicle
Joonas Peitsara
Militia Phantom
This thesis and the visual aspect of the project focused on the walking combat vehicles of Titanfall. These vehicles are called Titans.
The goal of this project was to design a new type of Titan for the Frontier Militia unit that is in the science-fiction universe of Titanfall.
The design process of this project includes a wide range of fine detailed digital and traditional drawings.
The end result is a super heavy stealth camouflaged assault and ambush Titan, Phantom
Teppo Antolla
Sampo from Kalevala
My thesis project was to focus on the world of Kalevala and bring the mythical machine named Sampo into today’s world in the form of a motorcycle. For those who don’t know, Sampo is a magical device of indeterminate form. It has been proposed to be knowledge, power, skill as well as material things, such as a magical mill, a counterfeit device, and a machine for minting coins.
My aim was to build a rugged machine, visiting the past and picking up key elements from days gone by. My project features a hardtail frame to make it low and to keep a retro feel to it. For example, Harley-Davidson fat boy wheels are used, because they give an impression of historic style, when wheels were riveted by blacksmiths. In Kalevala, Blacksmith Ilmarinen forged the Sampo.
Sampo Motocycle
Waltter Holm
ARCTOS
The aim of the bachelor’s thesis was to design an innovative armoured personnel carrier. This bachelor’s thesis is made in cooperation with Patria Land Systems. An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured vehicle which run on tracks, in which the crew can be transported. My Bachelor’s thesis presents a novel solution to armoured personnel carriers which can easily be adapted to other purposes. Purpose is possible by switching the integrated function module into the another function module. Function module options may include the evacuation, reconnaissance, maintenance and in-service module. Armoured personnel carrier is completely unarmed.
ARCTOS
Hilja Kaitila
Algorithms as designers
The topic of this graduation project is to create a design process that benefits from computing science by using algorithms and artificial intelligence as part of the process. The focus is on how designers can exploit existing programs that have a large volume of users (big data) and how research results can be applied to Lada’s renewed brand image.
Antti Vahtola and Antti Alasalmi
Changan Serenity
This graduation project was created for Chinese car manufacturer Changan. The brief was to create a visual identity for the brand and to form the key elements of their design. Our mission was to build a vision which presents Changan’s identity, giving the guidelines for the global design language. Our concept is built around safety and clarity. Changan means “lasting safety” as a name, so the story for the vehicle reflects the brand. The main theme of the concept was the interaction with water, having strong inspiration from a boating world combined with a Scandinavian touch. The vehicle is designed for the autonomous era. The user experience will be highlighted when there’s no need to drive.
Ilja Oikarinen
Pod-car Concept
My graduation project was created with the collaboration of Covestro, a company that produces plastics. This project is aimed at finding a way to merchandise Covestro’s materials in a new and exciting way. To do that I have chosen a future scenario which will address the issue of high density of people and unavailability of housing.
To solve these problems, I have created a vehicle interior concept which will provocatively highlight a solution and proposal for the year 2030. In this concept the interior is used like a Swiss army knife. It is multipurpose, where you can sleep, rest, hang out or drive the vehicle, depending on your need. The car can be rented or bought.
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!
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….
