in 'another sedan', joey ruiter captures the nostalgic essence of driving

all images © Logan Zillmer

“Another Sedan’ is a future view of a throwback idea. A familiar shape that conjures up memories at a glance. A ‘dumb’ vehicle that’s a vessel for your own skill, ideas, and desires. You’re not looking at a headlight detail, the shape of the wheels, the door handles… You’re observing a big presence. A huge body side. A character. We were proud of what we could purchase. We worked hard, and our labor produced a moving sculpture of metal and chrome built by our brothers. There was a pride – that now seems to be lost – in using your vehicle. A simple joy in going for a drive,’ shares the designer. 

a modular, stripped-down interior driven by human skill 

Ruiter describes ‘Another Sedan’ as an open platform for experiencing transport in a human-focused way. The modular interior will morph to fit any driver or passenger in any manner that suits the individual or occasion; the space is big enough, physically and ideologically, to contain even conflicting points of view.

Maneuvering that stripped-down vessel is entirely dependent on the driver. Skill, not software, is the focus of this primordial platform, with controls slimmed down to utterly essential ideas like GO, STOP, and TURN. ‘Because driving skillfully and well is a uniquely human joy that, at least today, feels under threat. But the idea of riding – comfortable, cruising, chauffeured – is also familiar,’ he adds. Moreover, the lounge-like passenger spaces offer another passive experience in the sedan’s core feature set. 

‘Another Sedan’ captures an all-too familiar shape, evoking simpler times

capturing the essence of driving

The intention around the car’s rear quarters is to recapture the small luxury of a Sunday afternoon, a big bench seat, a view of the road, and nowhere to go. Cloaked in the seeming simplicity of three white boxes, it defies expectation when its occupants disembark.

Eschewing traditional doors completely, the car instead splits open from the center in a sleek, cinematic gesture that plays with the historic glamor of arrival. Here the juxtapositions are laid bare: from an anonymous box to a neck-breaker of a red carpet car. Divergent ideas that nevertheless capture some of the essential spirit of driving that, today, feel fleeting. ‘I’m fully aware that my concepts and thoughts are wrapped around complete freedom, but if we don’t have free expression, trying to think about new things, I don’t know what you’re left with. You’re fine tuning over generations,’ concludes Ruiter.

a three-box format with a long hood and wide body, stripped of details

the car splits open from the center in a sleek, cinematic gesture

modular and driven by human skill

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project info:

name: Another Sedan
design: Joey Ruiter

photography: Logan Zillmer

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom