Paris Design Week: Astre Mobile

To mark Paris Design Week and European Heritage Days, the Maison Lacmé studio presents Astre Mobile, a transparent car transformed into a work of art, blending craftsmanship, materials and imagination.

Astre Mobile is a transparent car that keeps its secrets well, whether it is moving or stationary. Conceived as a work of art in its own right, it follows in the tradition of Art Cars, where the car becomes a medium for artistic expression.

Conceived and artistically directed by Antoine Tauvel, Artistic Director of Maison Lacmé, Astre Mobile is the result of an in-depth design process combining drawings, formal research, scale models and sculptural prototypes. The result is a blend of luxury and simplicity, with fine, durable materials bearing the traces of transience, movement and gesture. 

This work also celebrates collaboration and collective creation. Around ten French craftspeople were invited to contribute. Gold, onyx, shells, wood, leather, feathers, lacquer, porcelain: each material is treated as a language, each piece as a work in its own right. From the steering wheel to the speedometer, from the gear knob to the upholstery, everyday elements are transformed and reinterpreted based on Antoine Tauvel’s original artistic vision.

Photo credits: Hervé Voët 

Astre Mobile thus reveals itself as a mobile cabinet of curiosities. A work that can be appreciated as a whole or broken down into parts, allowing one to linger over every detail. The individual parts can also be repurposed from their original use, offering numerous surprises such as these stone wheel trims that become a lamp and are replaced by their trompe l’œil versions, or the car’s logo that transforms into a piece of jewellery, and so on. An invitation to slow down one’s gaze, to explore the materials, and to give free rein to the imagination.

The project draws on recurring themes in Antoine Tauvel’s work: movement, time, play, and the connection to the elements and the stars. Each installation engages with these themes, from the artisanal gesture to the evocation of broader phenomena, from touch to light.

At once an object, a work of art and an experience, Astre Mobile questions our relationship with objects and their use. It offers a different perspective on the car: no longer merely as a means of transport, but as a realm of creation and reverie. Astre Mobile brings together around ten French craftspeople, notably:

• A speedometer with feather marquetry — Maison Vermeulen
• Seat upholstery embroidered with shells — Aurélie Lanoiselée
• Porcelain gear lever — Ateliers Arquié
• Heater housing — heliogravure by Fanny Boucher, gilded with gold leaf by Lise Richardot
• Driftwood steering wheel — Claude Prautois
• Urushi lacquer key — Alexandre Duboc
• Russian leather parts — Élise Blouet-Ménard
• White onyx wheel trims — Hervé Obligi
• White onyx trompe-l’oeil wheel trims — Pierre-Yves Morel
• Metallic embroidered logo — Marie Archambaud

Maison Lacmé is a creative studio founded by Cécile and Antoine Tauvel. Their approach combines art, design and craftsmanship, with a particular focus on collaborations and expertise. Astre Mobile marks the first creation to emerge from this joint exploration. Together, they work with collectors, interior designers, institutions and luxury brands. Their aim: to bring dreamlike worlds and objects to life, to rekindle a sense of wonder, celebrate the beauty of the moment, and weave stories to be shared, where connections are forged and time stands still.

Paris Design Week is a flagship event for contemporary design which, every year, transforms Paris into an open-air creative journey, bringing together designers, craftspeople, galleries, publishers and cultural institutions. Over ten days, the event showcases new forms of creation, craftsmanship and the dialogue between heritage, innovation and the arts and crafts.