Nissan Cube goes global

The all-new third generation Cube’s asymmetrical design and lounge-style interior provide unexpected charm and witty functionality

In 2002, an all-new second generation Nissan Cube was introduced in the Japanese market. More spacious inside, more glass outside, with more power and, more importantly, a few more angles and curved surface details added to its compact, slab-sided exterior. Quintessentially Japanese, this new Cube took Tokyo by storm. The Nissan Cube soon found an audience outside of Japan through its exposure in fashion and automotive magazines, videos and on the Web.

Slow design

The Cube interior is offered in two colour environments, Black and Beige. Both trims come with a quilted suede-like fabric with special “natural wave” stitching designed to provide a combination of relaxation and genuine “driving enjoyment” attitude. The 2009 Nissan Cube is available in several eye-catching colours, with evocative names like Witty Military, White Pearl, Sea Turquoise and Bitter Chocolate.

Cube’s clever, inspired and surprisingly open occupant space was conceived with a “Jacuzzi Curve” layout and “floating meter pod” driver’s area. It combines “casual lounge”-style passenger seating with a relaxed driving experience. The interactive interior is anchored by its curve-themed architecture, such as the subtle wavy shaping of the instrument panel, door panels, seat shapes, and the iconic “Water Drop” that can be seen in the cupholders and the climate control design. They are inspired by nature and the calming way that ripples move outward from a drop in water.

CUBED TV : Live on the Internet

Reserved for the press, the Nissan Cube stand will all the same be accessible to the general public via Cubed TV (http://cubedtv.com), broadcasting live from the stand and which for the last week has already been creating a buzz in the blogs and on Facebook, with a dedicated group of several hundred fans!

From the 3rd March, you will be able to follow all the latest from the Nissan Cube stand on Twitter, the new microblogging tool used by Barack Obama for his presidential campaign, as well as on Seesmic, the video platform created by Loïc Lemeur which enables internet surfers to react directly to the Cubed TV programme via a webcam.

Links :

Website & Blog Nissan Cube : http://cubedtv.com

Nissan Cube on Twitter : http://twitter.com/Cubed_TV

Nissan Cube on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49762182487

Nissan Cube on Seesmic : http://seesmic.com/cubedtv

Download & embed photos :

Join the « Slow » manifesto :

Download the manifesto

Slow art – La Fratrie

The floating world of La Fratrie, beyond its relasing poesy, deals with our relations with time and environment. Before the realisation of each sculpture, the two brothers take time to contemplate the nature in order to transcribe it in the best way. After the thorough observation, for a tree, a sky or a rock to look as natural as possible, a meticulous process of fabrication is required. The art works accomplished by the brothers are conscious of craftmenship, outside the race for rapidness and progress. They are not inclined to use resin to save time or to reproduce in numbers ; thier motto is to look for the millenium materials such as gold leaf, cardboard and wood. No composite or polluting materials are used. By the choice of their work style and materials, La Fratrie has an permanent approach of responsibility towards the nature, questioning about the precariousness of our existence in their metaphorical way.

Slow movie – Marcus Kreiss

Marcus Kreiss is a video-artist living in Paris. He studied filmmaking in Rome before coming to France in 1986. His works include urban installations, paintings and drawings and can be found in the most important German and French art collections (deutsche Bank, FNAC, Yvon Lambert etc) Since the late 90s he develops a concept for specific videofilms for flat screens he calls « video paintings » and founded a TV channel in 2006 just to show this kind of work: souvenirs from earth TV can be seen all over France in the « free » network and on half of the German cable TV networks.

Slow Fashion – Jérôme Dreyfuss

We are going back to a ’slow fashion’, a fashion that ignores the modes to better focus on the essential knowledge, cultural heritage and human history … a fashion that refuses interchangeability, which is doomed to endure and survive and not disappear.

Jerome Dreyfuss – interview by Le Modalogue

Slow Design – Christophe Vialle

At the origin of the mark, a personal and spontaneous creation from Christophe Vialle. It is neither a designer and professional horticulturist, attached to his surroundings. He became « owner » of its own green space in an apartment based in Paris, the idea came to him to share his experience in providing similar designs to those he had concocted for himself.

Thus, a collaborative work with design, industry and horticulture professionals, has given rise to the first Racine Carré collections. Main objective: To attract customers concerned about the urban quality of his surroundings and his environment, pressed but not too much…

Slow Music – Samon Takahashi

Samon Takahashi is a visual and sound artist based in Paris, France. He draws from rational systems of organization their capacity to classify almost everything. He, therefore, composes in a rigourously crazy maner and classifies diverse elements. Fiction or laughing enter his work to defuse the rigidity of these statements. Thus, in front of this work, we experience both the complexity of a demonstration and the failure of rational system jeopardized by absurdity. » by Marie Bonnet.

Slow Photography – Scarlett Hooft Graafland

Scarlett Hooft Graafland spent four months in the icy regions of northern Canada to create this series of photos filled with poetry and a sense of the unexpected; a mix of performance and photography set in dreamlike settings of endless stretches of snow. These photos plunge us into a surreal and intriguing atmosphere, out of time. Humour is very present both as an element of surprise and in the composition of the photos, as if to lead us to question the messages: is this strange place in need of preservation? Is this culture and its folklore to be discovered? Is it a hidden treasure? Many questions come to mind in viewing these images as they are more than just an invitation to escape, they address concerns such as family, cultural integrity, and the environment.

Born in 1973 in the Netherlands, Hooft Graafland is based in both Amsterdam and New York. Her work to date has included sculpture, installations, photography and performance. She has studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, The Hague, Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem and Parsons School of Design, New York. She has had solo exhibitions all over Europe and has been part of group shows at the Metropolitan Museum, New York and Musée D’Orsay, Paris, amongst others.

‘You Winter, Let’s Get Divorced’ by Scarlett Hooft Graafland, at the Michael Hoppen Gallery from February 5 – March 29, 2009. All images © Scarlett Hooft Graafland, courtesy Michael Hoppen Contemporary

Scarlett Hooft Graafland – Journey
© Scarlett Hooft Graafland courtesy Michael Hoppen Contemporary

The concept of a slow car from Japan

To help explain the Cube concept to audiences outside of Japan, Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President in charge of design, often shows an ancient Japanese picture scroll and compares it with a western painting. « In the Western world, » he says, « the horse-drawn coach was long the major means of transportation and the priority was mainly to travel quickly from one place to another. That idea passed through to the sporty, ready-to-go styling of automobiles today. In Japan, on the other hand, the oxcart was common, and the priority was on relaxation and comfort during the trip. » The Cube can be seen as the perfect example of a contemporary interpretation of those tension-releasing « slow cars » from Japan.

Born during a break

« Taking a break from a hectic day, I was drinking a cup of coffee in the company canteen and thinking: ’Wouldn’t it be nice if I could create a basic car that has this same kind of relaxed atmosphere, with a design that wouldn’t fade, even over 20 years?’ It wouldn’t be just another classic European compact, but one born from distinctively Japanese ideas. I thought of the common Japanese situation of a car having to frequently back up on tight roads, and I got a flash: cut the rear window asymmetrically to expand the rear view and help drivers back out with confidence. »
This was the moment that the idea for the asymmetrical styling of the now iconic 2nd generation Nissan Cube came to exterior designer Hirotada Kuwahara.

Born 1971, graduated from Car Design Dept. of Tokyo Communication Arts, Hirotada Kuwahara joined Nissan in 1994. Took charge in exterior design of 2nd generation Cube (model Z11), and exterior concept planning of the new 3rd generation Cube (Z12). Also
designed « Cube Kiosk » stand at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi.

http://cubedtv.com