Renault Twingo: Showcased in Milan to Bring a Smile to the City
Design as an Antidote to Urban Heaviness
In a car landscape often dominated by aggressive and muscular lines, the project "The Frog Is Back" takes a defiantly opposite direction. The installation, hosted at the rnlt Store in Brera, plays on a resemblance that has become part of the collective myth: that between the nose of the Twingo and the face of a frog.
Signed by artist and designer Marcantonio in collaboration with LePub Italia, the setup transforms the showroom into a true creative ecosystem. Here, design is not an exercise in style for its own sake, but a tool to reconnect with the lighter and more playful side of daily commutes.
Electric, Green, and Conscious
The absolute star is the Renault Twingo E-Tech Electric (which we have already driven; here you can find our video). The new model reinterprets the style elements of 1992 with a contemporary sensitivity:
- Open gaze: The iconic headlights maintain their expressiveness.
- Soft lines: A silhouette that communicates agility and accessibility.
- Chromatic sustainability: The green, chosen for the launch, is not just an aesthetic choice but a direct call to nature and the electric vocation of the vehicle.
Inside the store, visitors find themselves immersed in a dreamlike "urban pond", with large water lilies and a monumental sculpture that captures the features of the car. It's a reversal of viewpoints that invites stopping and reflecting on how a technological object can integrate into the urban fabric.
Beyond the Car: An Experience to Live
Marcantonio's intervention does not stop at the bodywork. The experience continues outside with a lounge characterized by seating inspired by the "Twingo alphabet" and liquid surfaces in the windows. There’s also space for playful interaction: a gashapon machine allows visitors to take home a small piece of this world, such as the specially created car air freshener in the shape of a frog.
"With The Frog Is Back, we wanted to bring to Milan Design Week not just a car, but an emotion," explained Sébastien Guigues, CEO of Renault Italia. "Twingo is an icon that speaks of freedom and urban creativity. We are telling our way of understanding mobility: accessible, surprising, and capable of bringing a smile."