.

.
June 25, 2003
.
This Week:

• Volkswagen Launches First-Ever SUV 

• Cornerstone laid for PSA Peugeot Citroën plant in Trnava, Slovakia

• Chrysler Group Is Most-Improved Automaker in The Harbour Report 2003

• BMW 3 Series Production Halted Due To Strike of German Metal Union

• Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover Appoint Imagination as Global Design Agency

• Renault opens the new premises of its satellite centre, Renault Design Paris

• Oasis Breaks National Hybrid Synergy Drive Campaign For Toyota

• New GM-Saab Technology Knows When Drivers Are Too Busy To Receive Certain Information

• New contracts for Volkswagen Group brands' dealer organisations

• PAX wheels now available for the Audi A6 as well

© 1998 - 2003 Copyright & 
Disclaimer
Automotive Intelligence,
www.autointell.com
All Rights Reserved .
For questions please contact
editor@autointell.com  

.
Renault opens the new premises of ist satellite centre, Renault Design Paris
 

Another step forward for "network design" Paris - Renault Design Paris, created in 2001, is today officially opening its definitive premises in the heart of the Bastille district. There are 15 full-time staff at the centre, whose General Manager is Fabio Filippini. To step up its activity, particularly on the international front, Renault Design began to put its network organisation in place in 2000, and quickly opened two satellite centres in the heart of European cultural capitals. The two sites, Renault Design Barcelona (2000) and Renault Design Paris (2001), are intended to complement the main design centre situated at the Renault Technocentre, in the outskirts of Paris at Guyancourt. A third autonomous unit, the Renault Samsung Motor Design Centre at Kihueng in Korea, joined the Renault design network in September 2002.

Renault Design's new site in the Bastille district, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, is ideally located to tap into the latest trends. The Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine is the setting which was chosen for the new Paris design centre, with three storeys and 1200 square metres of floor space. Its architecture and interior design are the work of Renault's Design, Environment and Visual Communications unit.

The tasks of the Centre are wide-ranging: it will participate in automotive projects (in internal competition with the other Renault Design creation centres), make innovative proposals and launch new ideas, pick up on upcoming trends, and experiment with new methods, techniques and processes. The satellite centre operates independently and brings together the entire range of design professions, including vehicle design, manual and digital modelling, colour & trim and graphic design.

The satellite centre has two levels, so as to prevent "information leaks": one level is open to all Renault designers (reception, administration and documentation areas, etc.) while access to the second level is restricted (the drafting and modelling areas are reserved for staff in residence and a handful of others with special authorization). The aim: to generate interesting proposals from all the creative units, each as different from the others as possible.

There will be 15 permanent staff in residence at the Paris Design Centre, whose General Manager is Fabio Filippini.

Renault Design: satellite organisation.

The way Renault manages creativity and design reflects the carmaker's specific approach: people of different nationalities and cultures are brought together, and assignments in other cultural fields and contexts (such as product design, furniture, art and architecture) are encouraged.

The satellite centres add a new and complementary dimension to the design function. They enable designers to gain inspiration from the cultural trends emerging in the world around them.

The idea is to embody Renault's specific vision of the car, based on an interpretation of Frenchness summed up in four concepts: charm, intelligence, vision and sensuality. The mix of nationalities and the influence of various cultural tendencies are the filter through which these concepts must pass in order to give Renault Design its own unique sense of identity.

In 2000, as part of its international deployment, Renault Design initiated the satellite centre concept. The first centre was set up in the heart of Barcelona. It was there that the idea for Scénic II originated, and its concept was then taken up by Renault Design at the Technocentre. Renault Design Barcelona today has a staff of 12. The expansion process continued in 2001 with the creation of Renault Design Paris. Then, in September 2002, the Renault Samsung Motor design centre in Korea was added to the satellite centre network.

(June 23, 2003)