Thonet Bone-ay

With their reputation for bulging hips and flexing bone lines, car exteriors usually steal the show when it comes to design. However, once in awhile an interior detail will surprise and delight us. Thonet and Volvo worked together to bring a beautiful handmade gear shifter to the automaker's Geneva C70.

I've got to give it to them, Thonet beat me to the punch on this one. I've been working with one auto manufacturer, to remain nameless for now, to create interiors that make a stronger anthropomorphic connection with drivers. It's a great concept to use hard, steamed wood on a gear shifter, since women and men alike love how it will give just a little when you grip it tightly. I'd love to get my hands around one of these and feel the warmth of the wood. We're considering wood for our project, but I think silicone could have some really nice applications too.

Materials can make or break a design, but form is of equal importance here. You might be asking yourself, is that a penis or a vagina? The truth is it's both, acknowledging our circle of life and the need for coexistence. The designer has truly done something innovative, massaging the form until it is universally sexual. With the aluminum shaft running through the center, I even wonder if he's making a statement about human evolution in an even bigger way...

(MocoLoco loves this dick! Thanks for the pics.)