zaha hadid’s experimental Z-car among thirteen uncommon and quirky cruisers at design miami/ basel
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design miami/ basel two thousand seventeen is a global forum for design, where the world’s leading galleries gather to present museum-quality exhibitions and installations of furniture, lighting and art objects. held annually every june in basel, switzerland, the showcase balances commercial opportunities with cultural programming – from a platform of panels and lectures ranging from design, architecture, art and style; to special commissions from both emerging and established creatives.
with a fine drive for automotive curiosities, art collector and curator kenny schachter of rove projects has staged a monumental exhibition of cars at this year`s design miami/ basel. titled ‘#manual`, the retrospective demonstrate includes thirteen ‘uncommon, handmade and quirky` vehicles from the 1950s up to the 1990s — including zaha hadid`s experimental Z-car, and a classic one thousand nine hundred fifty two lancia aurelia.
‘in an age when hostility to cars is reaching a fever pitch and we are swift approaching the obsolescence of manual vehicles altogether — I mean the ones you have to drive yourself vs. stick shifts, which are already basically extinct — what better time to stage a car display at the miami basel design fair in switzerland.`
zaha hadid`s experimental Z-car
with an emphasis on automobiles made prior to automatization, the exhibition at design miami/ basel celebrates the car as an icon of design and a symbol of freedom. for schachter, these coupés and concept cars are not merely vehicles of transport, but art chunks emblematic of a declining era of individuality.
‘adhering to such design discipline, when cars were built with creative freedom and lack of bottom line constraint, the aesthetically provocative and alluring characteristics of the vehicles are still manifest,` schachter explains. ‘puny in production numbers and stature, making due with limited scale and means, these vehicles suggest an unparalleled peek into the decades from the 1950s through 1990s before concerns shifted from individuality and uniqueness in automobile manufacturing to generic sameness.`
hadid`s vision is a hydrogen-powered, zero-emission city car
from a one thousand nine hundred fifty two aurelia B20GT to a one thousand nine hundred ninety one lancia delta integrale HF evolutione I, the infrequent cars featured are part of schachter’s individual collection, which he developed over the course of fifteen years living in europe. ‘they are defined by the maxim espoused by ferdinand porsche that form goes after function finding beauty in the streamlined versus superfluous,` he says.
coinciding with the showcase at design miami/ basel, mai ikuzawa — art director and founder of bow wow international — was commissioned to design a limited edition book ‘#manual`, featuring photographs of the vehicles shot by leon chew.
the Z-car`s distinctive curvilinear profile is generated by an inclined passenger pod
the porsche nine hundred eleven RSR prototype R7 from 1973
sleek kinks define the porsche 911`s framework
a look inwards the uncommon model
one thousand nine hundred eighty renault series one R5 turbo
inwards the renault series one R5 turbo
details of the infrequent, one thousand nine hundred eighty renault
an alfa romeo giulia sprint GTA
details of the classic alfa romeo
the coupé was manufactured by alfa romeo from one thousand nine hundred sixty five to 1971
a mercedes-benz 300TD touring from 1982
all green interiors inwards the mercedes-benz
installation view of ‘#manual` at design miami/ basel
design miami/ basel is a global forum for design, where the world`s leading galleries gather to present museum-quality exhibitions and installations of furniture, lighting and art objects. held annually every june in basel, switzerland, the display balances commercial opportunities with cultural programming — from a platform of panels and lectures ranging from design, architecture, art and style; to special commissions from both emerging and established creatives.