Tata Motors unveils H2X concept car at Geneva Motor Show

Architexture’s interior surface design replicates signature motif

At the recent Geneva Motor Show, Ratan Tata, owner of Tata Motors was on hand for the launch of the H2X concept vehicle, inspecting the interior surface finishes created by architexture design consultancy and wrapped in its proprietary Model-Tech® skins. This show car was the premier attraction on the Tata stand, with the tri-arrow brand motif – or jaali – not only found on the instrument panel, but also on the door panels, repeated on the vehicle’s exterior and also in the construction of the Tata stand itself. The tri-arrow branding could not be missed.

Tata’s brand symbol, the jaali, is defined as: “the term for perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with ornamental patterns constructed through the use of calligraphy and geometry. This form of architectural decoration is common in Hindu temples, Indo-Islamic architecture and more generally in Islamic Architecture.”

When the project began 18 months ago, the architexture team was challenged with replicating this jaali motif, which was accomplished by creating it in various scales, depths and colours in a creamy white and a bright teal, ultimately designing three separate versions.

The first version is for the instrument panel, featuring many 3D topological elements morphing from a full pattern at the front to just dots under the windshield. The second version for the door panel is the deepest, again morphing from full pattern at the front of the doors to dots at the back. The dots then transferred across the door, the B pillar gap and resumed their flow on the B pillar midsection. The rear doors are a transitional morph, where elements were removed to create a more open field of disintegrating pattern integrity. Then finally, the third variation is found on the arm rest, which is a shallow version of the instrument panel grain at a smaller scale.

The car will be released in India, so the team had to design the grain so it can be easily cleaned to withstand the region’s dust and heat.

Pratap Bose, VP of Global Design for Tata Motors said, “People don’t realize how much a good grain on the micro level is spectacular — it takes a very special skill to create that.” He continued to say that good design isn’t always something you necessarily see right away, you feel it and can sense when it’s not there. This project and others by all three of our architexture studios, is featured in the newly released car design news year book 6, as well in an upcoming issue of the magazine interior motives. Learn more by visiting the new www.architexture.design.