The Auto Interior of the Future
Textile Trends from STRÄHLE + HESS in Focus at INTERauto 2010 / Leading Event in Europe.
Althengstett (k-w). First impressions count: for automotive interiors as much as anywhere. But what does the passenger car interior of the future look like? Seeking an answer to this question, INTERauto 2010 has invited the trendsetter in textile innovation to Cologne for the fair from November 30 through December 2. Designers and developers from STRÄHLE + HESS have already drafted and built the automobile cabin of the future.
INTERauto is the leading event for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and their suppliers in Europe in the field of automotive interiors. The annual fair in Cologne is the meeting place for key players in cabin design: project directors and technicians as well as managers and chief executives. At this year’s tenth INTERauto, for the first time the Car Training Institute (CTI) is holding a high-level conference with leading experts on the newest trends and developments in automotive interiors.
On the first fair day, the focus of the forum is on premium materials and exclusivity, with the “nios” at the center of attention – since the automobile of the future must be of the highest quality, achieved with sustainable and ultra-light materials. CEO Kirsten Schönharting will speak on the symbiosis of sustainability and premium quality, also addressing the issue of sustainability specifications for technical textiles.
STRÄHLE + HESS has long been engaged in an environmentally responsible production process aimed at eco-efficiency. In Althengstett, the ‘cradle to cradle’ design approach is standard. Wherever possible, production cycles are oriented to the theses of the book “Cradle to Cradle – Remaking the Way We Make Things” by the U.S. architect William McDonough and the German chemist Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart. Nothing involved in the production process should be allowed to go to waste.
Cradle to cradle design defines a system of product production and industrial processes enabling “nutrient cycling” of materials. Materials for products that are optimized in terms of biological cycles serve as biological nutrients. They can be released into the environment without negative effect. By contrast, product materials linked to closed technical cycles – such as metals and various polymers – are designated as “technical nutrients“. These substances should not be released into the biological environment.
With its textile elements, the “nios” presents itself as a fuel-saving featherweight vehicle, but also as a recycler and a recyclable. The car of the future, on exhibit at the STRÄHLE + HESS booth at INTERauto 2010, offers haptic proof of how production processes can be kept cyclical.