The client’s brief included promoting recognition, knowledge, and experience – using the exhibition to effectively demonstrate the influence of modern industrial design and hint at the trends to come. We envisioned “160 Years of Design” as a space that would make visitors more conscious about how design is in everything and connects everything, and become a destination for students studying design or engineering. Emphasizing a human-centered philosophy, the space encompasses vision, dignity, and sophistication, while promoting innovation and fostering a curiosity for learning.

An average of 600 visitors a day means the exhibit plans must efficiently accommodate large groups as well as individual visitors, so the cyclical design of the life size timeline maintains constant circulation. Keeping in mind the demographic of curious tourists, university students, and children, visitors make their way through 160 years of history of the modern-day car, its predecessors, and the definitive products of their respective eras starting from 1851 to today, connecting the dots through design in a captivating way.

Using clean lines, bold and bright colors, and high contrast in the interior design to place emphasis on the cars themselves, the concept of the 160 Years of Design at the Shanghai Auto Museum was all designed to direct the gaze. Bright colors mark each era highlighted in the exhibition, leading visitors to see the natural evolution of design and its reverberating effect on the way automobiles looked and worked. Upon exit, the enduring atmosphere of Industrial Design is brimming with optimism, leaving visitors excited about the future of the industry and all its possibilities.