The new Renault Twin’z was launched this week to a burst of flash bulbs. But not at a car show. 本月早些时候，雷诺(Renault)在一片闪光灯中推出新车型Twin’z。但这次不是在车展上推出的。

It was launched at the Milan Design Triennale. 而是在“米兰三年展”(Milan Design Triennale)上推出的。

If this were a chair or a lamp there would be nothing unusual in this – Milan is the natural habitat for design. 如果发布的产品是一把椅子，或者一盏灯，也就没有什么不同寻常之处——米兰是天生的设计之都。

It was designed by Ross Lovegrove, who is at home in Milan, having designed everything from early Apple computers to seating for Japan Airlines to a bamboo bicycle. His sinuous, biomorphic style is instantly recognisable and his seductively futuristic aesthetic has proved influential. 这款车型是由罗斯•洛夫格罗夫(Ross Lovegrove)设计的。他正在米兰的家中。他设计过的作品五花八门，如早期的苹果(Apple)电脑，日本航空(Japan Airlines)的座椅，还有竹制自行车。他采用流动线条的仿生设计风格让人一眼就能认出来，而他诱人的未来主义美学影响很大。

It is unusual for a mass car manufacturer to commission a product designer. Cars are seen as complex machines that only specialists and in-house teams can fully comprehend. In 1999 Ford worked with designer Marc Newson to develop the 021C Concept Car but this is the first such collaboration since then. 大众型汽车制造商鲜少委托产品设计师设计汽车。通常认为，汽车是一种复杂的机器，只有专业人士和企业内部团队才能透彻理解。1999年，福特(Ford)与设计师马克•纽森(Marc Newson)合作，开发了021C概念车(021C Concept Car)。自此以后，这是首例此类合作。

Laurens van den Acker, Renault’s senior vice-president of design, says the company hoped the design could help it link to a new audience. “This should be a car that provokes and inspires. I love cars but we need to remember that only 8 per cent of people read car magazines. Taking this car to Milan allows us to be not just spectators in the design world but to participate.” 雷诺负责设计事务的高级副总裁洛朗斯•范德恩•阿克(Laurens van den Acker)表示，公司希望新设计能够帮助吸引新受众。“这应该是一部激动人心的汽车。我爱汽车，但我们必须记住，只有8%的人阅读汽车杂志。把这部车带到米兰，不仅让我们成为设计世界的观众，还能参与其中。”

The design represents an attempt to appeal to a younger, style-conscious urban audience, as new car sales continue to fall across the industry. Renault’s sales were down 18 per cent in Europe last year. 这款设计代表了尝试吸引年轻、有时尚意识的都市受众的努力，因为整个行业的新车销量持续下滑。去年雷诺在欧洲的销量下降了18%。

Renault says the design team reacted well to an outside designer being parachuted in. “Most people here knew Ross’s work,” says Mr Van den Acker, “and had great respect for it. Of course, we had different ways of working and he has very strong personal views – so at the beginning there is an element of speed-dating to it, getting to know each other.” 雷诺表示，对于空降的外部设计师，设计团队适应良好。范德恩•阿克表示：“这里多数人都知道罗斯的作品，并且很尊重他的作品。当然，我们有着不同的工作方式，他是一位有着强烈主见的人，因此刚开始有点像闪电约会，让大家相互了解。”

Mr Van den Acker admits it was not always easy: “Part of his job was to make people here slightly uncomfortable.” 范德恩•阿克承认，有时也不顺利：“他的一部分工作，就是要让这里的人感受到一点不痛快。”

The discomfort paid off. The result is extraordinary, a Klein-blue glimpse of a future where even small, affordable cars might be design objects of desire. 这种不痛快得到了回报，最终作品不同凡响。车身上采用的“克莱因蓝”色彩让人联想到未来——在将来，即使是小型的、价位不高的汽车，也可能是设计师们渴望设计的对象。

Mr Lovegrove did not start the design from scratch. The body shape was given, yet almost every detail is a radical departure from the normal small urban car. “We started with the headlights,” Mr Lovegrove says, “and it went from there.” 洛夫格罗夫不是从头开始设计的。车身形状已经确定，但几乎每一个细节都与通常的微型都市车截然不同，自成一派。罗夫格罗夫表示：“我们从车头灯开始，就从那里开始。”

These are inspired by the irises of a human eye. “You could imagine that you might one day be able to customise them by matching them to your own eye colour,” the designer suggests. 车头灯的设计灵感来自人眼虹膜。这位设计师说道：“你可以想象一下，有一天，你也许可以定制它们，要求它们和你自己的眼睛颜色相搭配。”

Their elegant, organic complexity is mirrored in the hub caps, which appear to grow from the tyres, with spokes like the branches of an alien tree. Mr Lovegrove worked with Michelin to develop a two-coloured tyre that would meld seamlessly into the wheel. 优雅、有机的复杂设计体现在毂盖上，它们看上去就像是从轮胎长出来的一样，而轮辐就像外星树的枝条。洛夫格罗夫与米其林(Michelin)合作，研发了一种两色车胎，能够极其精准地和车轮吻合。

Door handles have disappeared; a gold button now does the job. “It’s not an expensive car and this is a moment of luxury,” Mr Lovegrove says. But perhaps most eye-catching are the rear brakelights, which spread up over the roof to create a complex landscape of light that changes and moves as the brakes are applied. 车门把手不见了，代之以一个金色按钮。洛夫格罗夫表示：“这不是一辆昂贵轿车，但现在是一个奢华的时刻。”或许最吸引眼球的还是后刹车灯。后刹车灯一直延伸到车顶，打造出一片复杂的灯光景象，踩下刹车时灯光闪烁。

Small cars in particular have become homogenised in design and these motifs – the lights and wheels – give this car a character that allows for better consumer identification. 微型车设计同质化现象严重，而这款设计的主题——灯光与车轮——赋予这款车一种特质，更容易获得消费者的认同。

Mr Lovegrove is keen to stress that, unlike some concept cars, this one is “makeable”. 洛夫格罗夫还特别强调，与其他一些概念车不同，这一款是“可以生产的”。

“The average margin on a car is 6 per cent, this is a high-level game and a huge commitment,” he says. 他表示：“一辆车的平均利润率是6%，这是一场高端游戏，是一个郑重承诺。”

The prototype car cost about £1m to make, and it is intended as the template for a production model that will cost about the same as the current Renault Twingo. 制造原型车耗资100万欧元，目的是用作一款可投产车型的样板，后者造价将与现有的雷诺Twingo相当。