Between shared and private mobility - a challenge experience with Volkswagen Group

The technological advancements of the past century and a half have profoundly influenced nearly every aspect of human life, from the ways we consume and communicate to the ways we move through space. This thesis focuses specifically on the latter, examining the diverse and complex modes of travel that individuals adopt today. Through this lens, it seeks to investigate the evolving nature of mobility and the design opportunities that arise from these shifting behaviors and expectations. The innovations that drove the development of the project were, on one hand, the autonomous driving, which represents one of the most promising yet radical frontiers of future mobility, and on the other, the users’ growing need for customization that is increasingly characterizing every aspect of today’s consumption. Equally fundamental to the process was the awareness of the social and environmental impacts that transportation design has on our cities, acknowledging the flaws of today’s paradigm of privately owned mobility and the directions that municipalities are taking nowadays in this regard. The answer to these studies and reflections lies in the design of an urban mobility service and the interior concept of an autonomous vehicle, which leverages the characteristics of a particular type of material - the photochromic compounds - emphasizing the flexibility and customization options offered by the service. The thesis was developed as part of an international student challenge called IDEEA Project 2025, offering a speculative but concrete vision for the future of shared, adaptive, and sustainable mobility.