The spectacular design installation “The Dwelling Lab” came about in 2010 as part of a cooperation project by BMW with the textile manufacturer Kvadrat and the designers Patricia Urquiola and Giulio Ridolfo. It expresses the character of the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo in a completely new way.

In the design process, the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo was developed from the inside out. The designers Urquiola and Ridolfo translated this basic principle into a design sculpture in which giant cone-shaped structures first direct the beholder’s view towards the interior of the vehicle. The “Dwelling Lab” thus enables viewers to experience the elaborately designed interior of the vehicle before the exterior.

For the Salone del Mobile 2011 BMW and the lighting manufacturer FLOS worked together with designer Paul Cocksedge to create the lighting installation SESTOSENSO. The starting point for the production were the Full-LED headlights, which were first presented with the new BMW 6 Series Coupé. In this technology, the light seems to be created invisibly and guided through plastic cylinders where it first emerges at their edges.

This principle provided Paul Cocksedge with the inspiration for his installation in which red, transparent lampshades hang down low from the ceiling and appear to hover in front of a seamless, curved white wall. As is the case with BMW headlamps, the light is guided through the transparent housing of the lamps and first emerges at the edges – the light source remains invisible.

Design and position of the lights act as an invitation to view the room through the transparent lampshades. Only then does a film on the BMW 6 Series Coupé become visible on the giant wall spanning the room.

Through light you recognise the car – through the car you understand light.