Crystal-manufacturer Swarovski is a common sight at the Milan furniture fair, as invited designers find increasingly diverse ways to implement their products. Formerly a company most associated with kitsch figurines, their kudos has now grown thanks to the efforts of people such as Naoto Fukasawa, Toord Boontje and Tom Dixon.

As part of this PR drive is a vehicle by industrial designer Ross Lovegrove. Inspired by the Trans-Australia Solar Car Race, the form adopts that of the competitors, while each cell holds a single crystal to magnify the light. Lovegrove's proposal "fuses nature with technology" and was developed in conjunction with Sharp Solar Europe, prototypers Coggiola, Swarovski Optical Laboratories and General Motors Europe Advanced Design Director Anthony Lo. The vehicle has already won the World Technology Prize for Design in San Fransisco.

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