Cadillac’s reveal of the LYRIQ has marked a new auto revolution. The luxury SUV has set the bar higher for global carmakers.
Its design manager, Tristan Murphy, says the Lyriq is the realization of Cadillac’s new design ethos, the most beautiful integration of design and technology.
“We wanted to create something that truly felt new, iconic, and unlike anything on the road today, yet instantly recognizable as a Cadillac. Both the interior and exterior design feature long clean uninterrupted lines with a clear, futuristic design theme. As far as its interior design goes, nature was a huge inspiration. We pulled patterns and textures from pinecones and bark to create stunning textures and knurling around interior controls. We were inspired by the way the sunlight appears through trees and leaves when we designed the backlit laser-cut door décor,” he said.
Asked about the design process, Murphy said: “I like to think of the design process like a funnel. We start very wide and large with hundreds of sketches and design themes. From there we start to narrow down the themes until we get to that final one design. Moving further down the funnel, we continue to not only refine the chosen design, but integrate different sets of criteria such as engineering the overall car, the manufacturing enablers, and safety criteria.
The further we move down the funnel, the smaller we work, whereas in the beginning we are working in inches, or feet, by the end we are dissecting millimeters. The overall process from beginning to end changes from project to project, however, usually a few years at a minimum are required to achieve the resolution we all desire.”
Talking about the absence of a center console and how customers will adapt to more space and the omittance of shift stick, Murphy explained: “One of the biggest benefits of an EV platform is the removal or need for a transmission tunnel. That allowed us as a design team to really reconfigure the space. When designing an interior, you always want to have an open, airy cabin. This will always feel comfortable and reflect a sense of flow. However, we also wanted to take advantage of the space to enable more functionality and storage. We decided to design our console to be cantilevered, that way we could keep the functional parts like cup holders, phone chargers and our multifunctional controller up within reach.
Below the cantilevered upper console, we designed a large open storage lower console. We designed it with beautiful finishes like our Galvano chrome, accent color cut and sew materials, with embroidery pattern work. We felt like this was our opportunity to rethink how we design and finish these large storage areas of the car. We wanted to make a statement on how Cadillac design reaches every part of the car.”
Murphy discussed in detail the standout technology in the Lyriq. He said the crown jewel is the 33” diagonal advanced LED display. “This is truly a unique part in the industry and the first free-form display in the automotive space. The free form describes how the display is actually constructed and the resulting overall shape. Every other display in the market is constructed as such, a rectangle display is bonded to a “shaped” piece of glass. Sometimes you can see the black picture frame around the rectangle display. In the Lyriq, our display was designed from the ground up. The actual shape of the display is the actual shape of the glass, it’s not a simple rectangle or multiple rectangles under the glass,” he added.
To conclude Murphy reiterated how essential customer experience and feedback are in the design process.
“Customer “pain” points or problems are where clever solutions or ideas are born. For example, we know from talking to our customers, that a discreet spot for valuables such as phones, jewelry or sunglasses is a desire. That sparked the idea to design a deployable drawer at the center of the dashboard for such items. For almost my entire 17-year-long career to date, we have heard from women that they want a dedicated spot for larger bags or purses. With this lower open console, we were finally able to achieve that.
