Mazda Shinari With KODO Design Language
By Arman Barari on Sep 04, 2010 with Comments 0
Mazda has always been criticized in recent years because of the extremely smiley face of its cars. So they decided to let go of it and develop a whole new design philosophy that wipes the smile off their car’s face!
They call this new trend the ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’ and the first car to feature it is the Shinari concept which will be revealed at 2010 Paris Motor Show and hints at Mazda’s future models.
Mazda Shinari is a four-door, four-seater, sports coupe and a pure expression of the new design theme in its idealised form. Mazda Shinari showcases several new design elements that will carry forward into production, and represents the first initiative by Mazda Design to express ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’.
The Japanese word shinari describes the powerful yet supple appearance of great resilient force when objects of high tensile strength, such as steel or bamboo, are twisted or bent. It also refers to the appearance of a person or animal as it flexes its muscles in preparation for a fast movement, and it is these images that form the basis for the name of this concept car.
Ikuo Maeda, the head of Mazda’s Design Division, explains the new KODO design theme in this way: “In our work to further evolve the expression of motion, Mazda Design has focused on the strength, beauty and tension found in the ‘instantaneous movement’ of animals at the very moment that the motion begins. This motion is so full of vitality that it stirs the emotions of those who see it. We have named it ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’, and our aim is to express movement with forceful vitality and speed, embodying this design theme in Mazda’s upcoming models.”
Maeda continues, “Mazda’s four design studios located in Japan (Hiroshima and Yokohama), Europe (Frankfurt, Germany), and North America (Irvine, California) are currently combining to take up the challenge we have set them to achieve a breakthrough in the expression of motion in car design, and to incorporate this expression into our future products.”
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