Paris Design Week : Astre Mobile

On the occasion of Paris Design Week, Studio Maison Lacmé presents Astre Mobile at the Hôtel de la Marine, a transparent car transformed into a work of art, blending craftsmanship, material, and imagination.

Presentation

On the occasion of Paris Design Week and the European Heritage Days, Studio Maison Lacmé presents Astre Mobile, a transparent car transformed into a work of art, blending craftsmanship, material, and imagination. Astre Mobile is a transparent car that cleverly conceals its true nature, whether in motion or stationary. Conceived as a work in its own right, it follows in the tradition of Art Cars, where the automobile becomes a medium for artistic expression. Imagined and artistically directed by Antoine Tauvel, Artistic Director of Maison Lacmé, Astre Mobile is born from an in-depth design process combining drawings, formal research, models, and sculptural prototypes. The ensemble is a blend of luxury and simplicity; noble and durable materials bear the trace of the ephemeral, of movement, and of gestures. This work also celebrates encounter and collective creation. Around ten French master artisans were invited to contribute. Gold, onyx, shells, wood, leather, feathers, lacquer, porcelain: each material is worked as a language, each piece as an autonomous work. From the steering wheel to the speedometer, from the gear knob to the upholstery, everyday elements are transformed and reinterpreted based on Antoine Tauvel’s initial artistic intentions. Astre Mobile in the inner courtyard of the Hôtel de la Marine; Credits: Hervé Voët Astre Mobile thus reveals itself as a mobile cabinet of curiosities. A work that can be appreciated as a whole or fragmented, by lingering on each detail. The separated parts can also be diverted from their initial use with numerous surprises, such as stone hubcaps that become a lamp and are replaced by their trompe l’œil version, the car’s logo transforming into a piece of jewellery, etc. An invitation to slow down one’s gaze, to explore matter, to give way to imagination. The project is based on recurring notions in