Index

All work
  1. 01Eden
  2. 02CMF strategy, design and applications
  3. 03Surreal theme
  4. 04Iridescence colours
  5. 05Lustrous materials
  6. 06Pattern ideation
  7. 07Symmetry and coral
  8. 08Colour and material palette
  9. 09Colour and material application
  10. 10Credits
The Eden lounge cabin at night, seen through its open side: four pearl and grey seats with sculpted headrests around a glass table holding an air-plant terrarium, plum walls, a teal-lit floor, and stars and city lights beyond the windows.

AI-Generated Image

CMF case study

Eden Autonomous

Surface material concepts for a next-generation autonomous Mercedes-Benz interior, inspired by the garden of Eden.

Roma S. RupaniSponsored by Lear Corporation2016

What if people could have their own Eden garden in their vehicle?

Mercedes-Benz Eden is inspired by the garden of Eden. In the autonomous driving era, people are going to spend more time in their car.

The whole interior focuses not only on an elegant, organic structure and surface with advanced materials, but also on technologies like magnetic surfacing and virtual reality to realise the ideal of Eden.

Working in a group, Roma and Hans Lee designed next-generation automotive interior surface material concepts for Mercedes-Benz, enabled by the advanced trim technologies developed by the sponsor, Lear Corporation.

Futuristic 2020SurrealismAutonomousEscapismNature beauty

CMF strategy and design
Roma S. Rupani
Transportation design
Hans Lee
Duration
4 months, Aug to Dec 2016
Sponsor
Lear Corporation, for Mercedes-Benz
Skills
Trend forecasting, CMF strategy, material concepts, pattern design, Adobe Photoshop, InDesign
Samples on lilac paper, from above: a glass globe of white pebbles with an air plant, a clear lilac prism, a large mirrored silver disc, and a clear film printed with a fine coil.
CMF Board A glass globe with an air plant, a lilac prism, a mirrored disc and a printed coil.

Surreal theme

Futuristic 2020, surrealism, escapism, nature beauty.

  • The Eden Project's geodesic biomes on a green hillside by day, with a white arched stage in front.
  • The Eden Project's biomes at night, lit teal, gold and violet, titled eden, drives in beauty.
  • Clear geodesic biomes on a hillside by day, with the Mercedes-Benz star and name above them.
  • A dark shoreline scattered with points of blue light.
  • A violet mushroom lit from below in a dark blue forest.
  • A cave wall dotted with teal points of light.
The Eden Project's biomes, by day and lit at night. A glowing shoreline, a violet mushroom, a glow-worm cave.
  1. A white butterfly resting on a pale green leaf.
    Serene
  2. The fine white filaments of a dandelion seed head, close up.
    Calm
  3. A white mushroom turned gills up on a cream ground.
    Soft
  4. Drops of dew on two seed heads in soft lilac light.
    Fresh
  5. A grass plume beaded with dew in mauve light.
    Aura
  6. Translucent skeleton leaves, gold veins over violet and blue light.
    Lucid

Iridescence colours

Six moods from Roma's iridescence board, serene to lucid. The ground is sampled from each photograph.

  1. Serene#ECEDEF
  2. Calm#E5E6E1
  3. Soft#F0EDE4
  4. Fresh#AD94B1
  5. Aura#6E5364
  6. Lucid#465073

Lustrous materials

Four qualities of light, studied in work by other artists: reflective, natural, fluid and sensorial.

Reflective

A ring-shaped lamp on a stand in front of a square lens, throwing rippling circles of light.
MarkunpoikaMaterial: The Fresnel Lens
An installation of iridescent plexiglass pieces hanging in a gallery, scattering coloured light.
Unwoven LightMaterial: Plexi Glass

Natural

A clear glass block holding a pink ceramic wave, on a tall glass plinth.
Joanne BrokerMaterial: 3D Glass & Ceramic
Shards of pale glass spreading across a dark floor like ice.
AérialMaterial: Glass, Wood & Nails

Fluid

Pale, stretched fabric forms hanging from a ceiling in tear shapes.
Ernesto NetoMaterial: Gossamer
Thousands of fine coloured threads forming a soft, hovering surface in a room.
Ball-NoguesMaterial: Color Saturated Twine

Sensorial

A woman standing between walls of shimmering transparent film.
Hitomi Sato'sMaterial: Transparent Reflective Film
A man silhouetted against a wall of glowing parallel lines that curve around him.
Notional FieldMaterial: Elastic Cord

Pattern ideation

The pattern starts from the hexagonal frame of the Eden biomes.

Looking up through the hexagonal frame of an Eden Project biome, with a curved steel arch across it and the inner dome beyond.
Pattern inspiration The biome frame from inside. Photo: qubex, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Patterns

Symmetry, crystal, growing, firm

  • A regular lattice of hexagons with a dot at each centre.
  • Overlapping triangles and hexagons in a dense crystal lattice.
  • Hexagon cells of different sizes growing into one another, with dots at the joints.

Organic, wild, wondrous, coral

One flowing line, four colourways.

  • Dense flowing lines like coral, white on black.
    White on black
  • The same coral line pattern, teal on navy.
    Teal on navy
  • The coral line pattern, blue on navy.
    Blue on navy
  • The coral line pattern, magenta on navy.
    Magenta on navy

Colour and material palette

The Eden samples, laid out on one tray.

Roma's Eden material board: a white tray on a lilac to plum to slate ground, holding a glass globe with an air plant, a lilac prism, a mirrored disc, a printed coil film, a card of three iridescence photos, a beige sample with pearl strips, speckled green glass with a lime square, a hexagon mesh tile, a teal block on a teal print, a pink square on a galaxy print, a black gloss tile, a clear textured film and a lilac folded sheet.
  1. 01Glass globe of white pebbles with an air plant
  2. 02Lilac prism
  3. 03Mirrored silver disc
  4. 04Clear film with a printed coil
  5. 05Card of three iridescence photographs
  6. 06Beige grained sample with two pearl strips
  7. 07Speckled green glass with a pale lime square
  8. 08Hexagon mesh tile
  9. 09Teal block with an iridescent inlay, on a teal print
  10. 10Pink square on a galaxy print
  11. 11Black gloss tile
  12. 12Clear film with a raised pattern
  13. 13Lilac folded sheet

Colour and material application

Render of the Eden interior from above: white sculpted lounge seats around a central console with a disc table, on a teal and plum floor, with butterflies drifting through. An inset shows the console, the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life As a centre console, it controls the scenery of Eden's day and night by virtual technology. Render: Hans Lee

The same Eden cabin by day, parked on a tree-lined city street: pearl and grey seats around the glass table and terrarium, plum walls catching the daylight.

AI-Generated Image

Credits

CMF strategy and design
Roma S. Rupani
Transportation design
Hans Lee
Sponsored by
Lear Corporation
For
Mercedes-Benz
Duration
4 months, Aug to Dec 2016
Application render
Hans Lee

Eden Autonomous. Boards and text: Roma S. Rupani. The night and day cabin images are AI-generated.