Lexus has announced its forthcoming collaboration with Nigerian architect and designer Tosin Oshinowo and Chrissa Amuah – a London-based designer with roots in Ghana, Benin and Togo that will culminate in the presentation of a conceptual design experiment this December. The project will be in coordination with Design Miami. Inspired by the changes this year has brought, the concept will align with Lexus’ craft techniques and technology, explore cues from global history and respond to the current global moment to create a series of objects aimed to inspire innovation and exploration.
Over more than three decades, Lexus, the global luxury automotive brand, has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to bold, uncompromising design, exceptional craftsmanship, and exhilarating performance. Taking a human-centred approach, Lexus anticipates and understands the future needs and desires of people and society. Its thoughtful design is guided by attention to detail and a focus on craft traditions resulting in high-performance innovations, with a focus on comfort and elegance. Prior international design initiatives have included the Lexus Design Award, presented annually to an emerging designer at Milan Design Week, and an ongoing collaboration with Design Miami/.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Tosin Oshinowo and Chrissa Amuah and are looking forward to presenting their vision and human-centric approach in coordination with Design Miami/ this year, illuminating the various ways design can look to craft and tradition to forge new and exciting pathways forward,” commented Brian Bolain, general manager of Lexus International.
Based in Lagos, Oshinowo is an architect, a designer, creative entrepreneur, and founder of Ilé-Ilà, an internationally recognized furniture brand that explores bold colours through period-conscious furniture in a contemporary African context. Since 2012, she has been the Principal Architect at cmDesign Atelier (cmD+A), an architecture design consultancy practice known for environmentally-conscious and boundary-pushing contemporary architecture in Nigeria and across the African Continent. She is known for her socially responsive approach to architecture and urbanism and her exploration into the African identity in the modern context.
Amuah, a British-Ghanaian textiles designer, is based in London, England. She draws inspiration from her heritage in Ghana, Togo and Benin. Amuah is the Founder and Creative Director of AMWA Designs, an Adinkra-inspired luxury homeware and interiors textiles brand. In 2017, she established AFRICA BY DESIGN, an online platform and series of travelling exhibitions that showcase the talent of sub-Saharan designers both on the continent and living abroad, creating international commercial opportunities for its featured designers. Both Oshinowo and Amuah have led significant creative careers and been recognized internationally. Their collaboration will explore our understanding of human existence and respond to current restrictions on individual movements caused by the global pandemic, producing a series of design objects that will iterate on the evolution of ergonomics and elegance during this time.
“We were so energized by Lexus’s prompt to create space for a design thought experiment – to look at the world around us, to explore the experiences that we as a collective humanity have faced this past year in order to find inspiration and new possibilities,” noted Tosin Oshinowo. Says Chrissa Amuah, “We hope that our design exploration will spark joy and celebration, in spite of the restrictions the world now finds itself in, and intend to use this design to make a bold statement towards our new human existence.”
In addition to returning as an Automotive Partner to Design Miami/, Lexus will unveil the collaboration with Tosin Oshinowo and Chrissa Amuah in coordination with the fair, which opens November 27 through December 6 online and in-person in the Miami Design District. The presentation will have a strong digital component to audiences worldwide to experience this special collaboration.
Source: PR Newswire
