• Today, DS Automobiles is unveiling an interior design manifesto, the result of its thinking around the future of the car.
• Called M.i. 21, this research medium that was originally intended to remain confidential aims to create the link between vision and project. It sets out the five-year roadmap necessary for the development of future models that will come about before the end of the decade.
• M.i. 21 illustrates a predicted vision for the art of travel, driven by a unique experience of comfort, refinement and technology. A vision central to positioning DS Automobiles, the only premium brand capable of embodying The French Art of Travel.
• Unusually, M.i.21 will be exhibited in Paris, at the Grand Palais Ephémère, during Révélations – the international biennial of craft and design – which is open from today until next Sunday.
• M.i. 21 also reveals its secrets on the new DSDESIGNSTUDIO.PARIS website. The latter allows visitors to go behind the scenes of designing within DS Design.

Revelations from the M.i. 21 manifesto

The DS DESIGN STUDIO is unveiling M.i. 21, one of its research media, illustrating the vision for the Brand’s future interiors.

This research medium strictly for internal use makes it possible to represent on an object the joint thinking of the design and product teams around new concepts, original shapes, technical evolutions, redesigned ergonomics and HMI (Human-Machine Interface) plus explorations in CMF (colours, materials and finishes), for application before the end of the decade.

The manifesto is also a valuable communication tool inside the Brand, with the engineering and senior management groups. And it is a creative stimulus for the DS design team. Unlike a concept car, a manifesto incorporates certain regulatory, industrial and economic demands to be able to ensure faster production.

With the M.i. 21 manifesto, DS shares its vision with the public for the first time, at the Révélations exhibition, the international biennial for craft and design held in Paris, at the Grand Palais Ephémère, from 7 to 11 June 2023.

“Révélations is an event dedicated to expertise, craft and the excellence of craftspeople. We have been involved there since 2019. It is an opportunity to meet an audience sensitive to the avant-garde, beautiful materials, style, expertise and design. It is interesting to garner its impressions, feelings and comments, like a real-life test with experts. Our participation in Révélations also gives us the opportunity to communicate our DS x MÉTIERS D’ART design competition, which allows us to project ourselves even further.”
Thierry Metroz, DS Automobiles Design Director

M.i. 21, the future vision for DS interiors

Designed by Thomas Bouveret – Head of Interior Design – Vincent Lobry – Head of CMF Design – and their teams, the M.i. 21 manifesto reinterprets the language for tomorrow’s interiors supporting the art of travel. This includes:

• light

Light contributes to well-being in the cockpit. Whether direct or indirect to give lightness to the features and bring a new dimension to the materials, it will become a key contributor to the in-car sensory experience; adaptive, intelligent, connected to its environment. The circles present in the doors become rings of light enhancing the materials that are shown there.

• volumes

In contrast, the architecture offers more room. Space was freed up, by making the dashboard float and pushing it forwards. The floor is freed up and redesigned, without a central tunnel or centre console, and the glass surfaces are increased to offer more space, freedom and tranquility inside. Storage is inspired by the world of furniture. A subtle play of balance between materials, the sensation of touch and the distribution of volumes takes place to provide a feeling of well-being.

• sound

On a journey, sound allows the mind to escape. It contributes to the cockpit’s aesthetic layout. It also reflects the acoustic quality of DS Automobiles interiors. Sound is part of the journey: it can amplify the experience or disappear to bring a kind of opulence. In-depth thinking has been employed to put an end to the constant one-upmanship of sound system components and to gain space and mass. The work illustrated in the manifesto is both more visually rewarding and more in harmony with a fluid and refined style. All sound has been brought together on a central feature, becoming an iconic object by its design, positioning in the cabin and the lighting that accompanies it.

• immersion

The human-machine relationship has been redesigned. With DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE shown in 2020, thinking around interiors with less intrusive and more magical interfaces had already begun. The information was projected onto cotton satin. The disappearance of screens was intended to reduce mental overload and redundancy of information. The race for the size or number of screens is a strong trend among all manufacturers. But, turned off, these screens have no real aesthetic value. The idea is to find technology that gives the expected information without sacrificing quality and sensory appeal. With the M.i. 21 manifesto, an innovative solution is being tested by projecting onto a strip that can be made opaque to display information or become transparent to uncover materials. The only concession to screens are those located in the doors and devoted to looking behind through a camera. The system is controlled by voice or by a remote control system located in the central armrest.

• the artistic dimension

One objective pursued by the M.i. 21 manifesto is to go further in the bespoke offering, enhanced by a genuine piece of art. Everyone can adapt it to their taste. Artistic expression takes it to a higher level. The absence of a speaker frees up space in the doors. This space is reinvested to rethink some storage and redefine a larger space dedicated to the expression of expertise. This area of artistic expression is unprecedented. The circles represent the perfect geometry and a form of reassurance. They emphasise and differentiate the cockpit, with a signature and strong graphic design.

Questions to Thierry METROZ, DS Automobiles Design Director

• What is a manifesto, what are the differences to a concept car?

“A manifesto is a working tool, a real accelerator of change that we use to reflect on the future. Physically, it is a model that normally has to stay secret, because it incorporates a lot of our future.

These models are a link between our vision and our projects in development. They help guide our work and share this research for the Brand with the group’s engineering and management. We can also carry out tests to measure the level of attractiveness.

As it is an internal research tool, our teams use it to unleash their creativity while integrating the fact that most of the elements must be able to be put into production. And this is where the big difference lies with a concept car that remains barely, if at all, capable of being manufactured.

Last point, the time factor is important, with a 100% digital design it takes less than 6 months between the first sketch and the finalised model.

The manifestos crystallise our thoughts on a future product right now and give the roadmap.”

• What is the message from this manifesto and does it represent the interior of a future model?

“The M.i. 21 manifesto that we are showing at Révélations is important to the history of our Brand. It underlines an approach of openness on our part. We are sharing our creative process and vision with a wide audience of connoisseurs, as much in the automotive world as in the world of craft.

We are experiencing a historic transformation of automotive interiors. New architectures related to electric platforms, autonomous driving modes, the arrival of artificial intelligence and, most importantly, the desire of our customers to live a different experience are central to our thinking. The M.i. 21 manifesto illustrates these profound changes, an opportunity for us to share a unique vision of the French art of travel.”

DS DESIGN STUDIO.PARIS, behind the scenes of design

In parallel with its introduction at the Révélations exhibition, the M.i. 21 manifesto is also being unveiled on the new DSDESIGNSTUDIO.PARIS website.

The DS DESIGN STUDIO.PARIS website is complementary to the DS Automobiles corporate website. Its reason for existing is to bring the general public together around the design of the Brand’s creations, its expertise and its collaborations. Internet users will go behind the scenes of projects like the M.i. 21 manifesto. Through exclusive interviews, they will discover the vision and passion of the women and men who shape the design for the Brand’s future projects.

“We want to take more of the general public behind the scenes, like a chef would invite his clientele into the kitchen. Our first motivation is to share our passion with visitors to the site, who only see a part of our designs in our showrooms and occasionally at shows. We want to explain to as many people as possible the genesis of the design of our concept cars and production models. In the LAB section of the DS DESIGN STUDIO.PARIS website, visitors will discover some designs they won’t be expecting to see from a car design centre.”

Thierry METROZ, DS Automobiles Design Director.