Lexus Lexus created a life-size replica of the IS saloon made nearly entirely of cardboard. This would be the 2016 Lexus IS Sedan. Imagine if they were made from vertically sandwiched corrugated cardboard. Was it an extreme way to loose weight? It’s true. In a moment of creativity, the auto marker created the first origami vehicle in the world.
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The team was received a digital 3D model, which was then rendered into paper slices, using a total of 1,700 10-mm-thick sheets.
Meanwhile a steel and aluminium frame – used to give the auto structural strength – was fitted with an electric motor so it can be driven (slowly and out of the rain).
Sure, origami means folding paper, but considering the size of the project, Lexus had a little help from their friends, namely LaserCut Works and Scales and Models.
A team of five people assembled the auto. Once all the pieces were successfully cut out, each component was joined together using a wood glue.
LaserCut Works then cut the sheets of cardboard into 10 millimeter slices.
“Styling on cars is all about surfacing and angles, and how things change as you move around them; how does a car’s shape evolve from the front to the side to the back. Just like Lexus, we were committed to producing the best possible quality.” explained Ruben Marcos, the Scales and Models Company founder and director.
The creative process presented the team with a series of tough challenges: “The seats took a few attempts to get just right and the wheels required a lot of refining”. In all, the Origami vehicle took three months to build.
‘In effect we created our own vehicle production line, ‘ said Ruben.
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Members of the public will be able to see the auto as a star attraction at the Grand Designs Show at the NEC in Birmingham, from 8 October.
