With the forward-looking-design of the new Lexus IS, the just-announced RC Coupe and LF-NX grabbing headlines around the world, it’s no surprise that the place they are created is just as amazing…
Beyond by Lexus magazine has been granted rare access to the Lexus Design Centre, and has just shared these images from their tour of the studio in Aichi, Japan.
Hidden behind the building’s gleaming glass frontage, they found a rooftop ‘examination room’ where new models are scrutinised, and the Virtual Cube – a projector-lined box that allows designers and engineers to see and experience exactly what it would be like to sit in the interior they’ve just drafted.
Constructed in 2003, the design centre is a one-stop shop for Lexus’s prototype design process, and it’s the place where many new models, like the recently unveiled LF-NX, are initially conceived.
Frankly, it’s a mind-blowing, high-tech place. On the third floor, aka the “Real-Scale Theater,” three giant screens allow designers to examine everything from life-size sketches to 360-degree, 3D vehicle designs in simulated road environments.
“One of the main pillars of our L-finesse design philosophy is ’human-oriented,’” explains Tetsuo Miki, a project manager working at the facility. “The cubicle enables us to study how this concept is realised and to perfect the interiors down to the smallest detail during the initial stages. If necessary, we can also go back to the sketches and fine-tune our design direction to make sure it would be attractive enough as a product.”
I have a 2018 Lexus NX300 GEORGEOUS AUTUMN SHIMMER COLOR…. that I love to death…except the screen….why Lexus designed something so poor and terrible on a beautiful lexus???? I have purchased the memberships for navigation app….however it never works properly…The other apps are total useless as they don’t display the information in an accurate way. I hate that this poor screen system doesn’t even offer the option to mirror my cell….at least I’d use my waze, phone directory and everything in a more comfortable way…. huge mistake!
Even the most affordable vehicles from Nissan, offer mirror screen…but this junk it’s a shame and unnaceptable.
The beautiful color on my Lexus is so unique that it’s hard to even see it on newer models…I don’t feel like replacing it soon, except the useless screen.