Lexus Commemorates Three Decades of Artistic Japanese Design
Over three decades, Lexus vehicles have evolved a lot, but Japanese-inspired design remains a common thread.
Evolution of Design
It's pretty hard to believe that Lexus has been around for 30 years now, but here we are. And even though the automaker hasn't really made a big deal about this milestone, it is most certainly worth diving deeper into. We recently took a look at the brand's greatest achievements over the last three decades, but now we want to dissect Lexus' subtle Japanese design evolution, specifically.
Photos: Lexus
Cultural Experience
Lexus invited a host of lucky guests, including those behind the art site Wallpaper, to the Daizaifu Tenmangu Shinto Shrine near Fukuoka, Japan recently. And we couldn't possibly imagine a more appropriate backdrop for such an occasion. For one night, the automaker transformed this shrine into a restaurant with a Michelin-star chef on-site to create a unique cultural experience.
Photos: Lexus
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Whirlwind Tour
The night began, however, with a rare tour of the Design Dome at Toyota headquarters, where guests were able to take an unprecedented look at how Lexus' design has evolved over the years. Then, it was onto a Japanese ryokan in Yamaguchi, a manufacturing plant in Kyushu, and a modern tea ceremony, of course.
Photos: Lexus
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Leading Edge Design
The trip to the Design Dome was most notable, as Lexus Design Division's Koichi Suga was on hand to explain the brand's design philosophy, which he described as "leading-edge design and technology applied with finesse." There was also a clay model of the Lexus LC convertible concept on hand, which designer Yoshitaka Yamamoto used to demonstrate how he creates the shape of a car using small rakes and various other tools.
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Crafting Excellence
This fascinating demonstration allowed a select few to see how Lexus' master craftspeople created a number of unique design attributes that wound up inside the new Lexus LS interior. Once this demonstration was complete, it was on to see how all of these elements are incorporated into actual production vehicles at Lexus' nearby manufacturing plant.
Photos: Lexus
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Working Together
That demonstration proved to be quite impressive, with people working alongside robots to make roughly 30,000 unique parts go together to form one vehicle. Overall, Lexus produces over 1,800 vehicles a day at this plant, which is pretty astounding given how slow the process seems at first glance.
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Care and Precision
The following tea ceremony might seem like it has little to do with things like automotive design, but Wallpaper soon discovered several commonalities between them. Brewing a rare local Gyokuro sencha green tea requires care and precision, efforts that are soon rewarded with an astounding number of unique tasting characteristics.
Photos: Lexus
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Traditional Methods
Overall, our guest came away impressed with the level of detail and thought that goes into designing and building Lexus vehicles. These are the little things that help differentiate the brand from the rest of the luxury auto world, and a big part of their continued success over the last 30 years. Now, we're more excited than ever to see how these traditional methods translate to future success.
Photos: Lexus
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