BFA+MFA 2023

Tharwa Dalansi

Driven by Personality: Exploring the Relationship between Custom Cars and Self-expression

MFA in Design

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Custom Car Culture (CCC) is a form of creativity that emerges from personal identities and passions. It involves the restoration, modification and personal adornment of commercially manufactured cars. This process creates a journey, where the enthusiast goes through multiple phases of self-reflection. But due to a lack of local resources, Qatar-based CCC enthusiasts often have to send their cars abroad to Dubai or Japan in order to customize them, relinquishing creative control in the process. In response to these challenges, based on observations and interviews conducted among actual CCC enthusiasts, I develop a platform for engagement between these enthusiasts and Qatar-based makers. To illustrate the potential of this platform, I present a series of locally-customized car grills that reflect both the personality and narratives of Qatar-based CCC enthusiasts, providing them with more freedom, control, and ownership over the modification of their cars, a highly personal and creative process.

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