Since 2021, Renault has presented a number of unique creative projects that take a fresh look at its exceptional heritage and the emblematic models that are now part of popular culture. These projects bear testimony to the brand's ability to fuse heritage, design and innovation, while also creating a unique playground with huge scope of expression for contemporary designers. Renault has now called on the creative talents of Ora Ïto, one of the most avant-garde designers of his generation, to reinvent the aesthetics of Renault 17, creating a bold and modern take on this historic car.
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MotorTranscript
00:00My name is Auraito, I am a designer.
00:07What interests me in this job is the transversality,
00:12to be able to express my work and my vision through different projects.
00:21Renault is a brand that is part of the collective memory, being French.
00:25I grew up with this lozenge, with the design of this logo made by Vasarely,
00:30who is one of my favorite artists.
00:32I like the idea of know-how, I like the idea of history, of legitimacy.
00:36That's what I really liked about our partnership with Renault.
00:42I was introduced to the R17 and it's true that I was very attracted to this car
00:46because there were a lot of codes that define my work.
00:49I had the opportunity to work on cars that corresponded to issues,
00:53whether it's a problem of traffic, size, mobility.
00:58As far as this project is concerned, it's more of a poem,
01:02it's more of an artistic vision, almost cinematographic, of the automobile.
01:11What interested me in this Restomod program was really the idea of revisiting an icon.
01:16For me, the challenge was to make it even more monoblock than it was.
01:21To try to harmonize the volumes, the different parts of the car.
01:25Beyond the design, we also extended the concept of the Restomod to the engine
01:29with a 100% electric, performing solution and in the air of time.
01:33I started with a good basis, the basis of the R17 is very interesting.
01:38I was already finding my codes in it.
01:40So there was just to simplify them, modify them, sometimes isolate them, sometimes bind them,
01:44sometimes try to remove a few elements so that it is more than one element.
01:48So to connect certain functions, the dashboard, the steering wheel,
01:52and also work on the materials that were consistent with my universe and my architectural universe.
01:59The idea is that there is no separation between the interior and the exterior.
02:02This is what I also like to do often in architecture.
02:04So the interior is really inspired by the universe of the living room.
02:08We made it much more domestic, less automobile.
02:12It was a first, I loved collaborating with the Renault teams.
02:15It's a team work, but there, it's big teams.
02:18There was immediately an understanding, a common vision.
02:21Working with the Sandeep teams, who modeled all my ideas in real time.
02:27I mean, I sent two sketches and two minutes later I already had the pieces that were modeled.
02:33This car inspired me very, very quickly.
02:36And Gilles adhered, I would say, almost automatically to the vision I had under the car.
02:41A car, it can take years.
02:43Here we are on a time of six months.
02:46There is all this work of reflection, and there is also this work of fear,
02:49where we say to ourselves, is this the right choice?
02:51There, we don't have that time.
02:53So you have to be able to be quite direct, and it's quite stimulating as a way of working.
03:00It's the car of a James Bond, but a little more modern.
03:03It's the car of a James Bond, but a little more fun.
03:06Maybe a little offbeat.
03:08Maybe a James Bond who would wear jackets and flower shirts.
03:12So it might be more Austin Power, actually.