A manifesto work
Astre Mobile is a work of art born from the transformation of a transparent Citroën Méhari by Maison Lacmé.
At the crossroads of design, fine craftsmanship and storytelling, this unique creation subverts an icon of French automotive history to turn it into a poetic, sensory and reversible object.
The car is no longer viewed simply as a means of transport. It is becoming a mobile cabinet of curiosities, a moving exhibition space and a machine designed to make the imagination travel.
Astre Mobile is Maison Lacmé's inaugural manifesto piece.
The transformation of an icon
Associated in the collective imagination with the great outdoors, beaches and a certain idea of freedom, the Citroën Méhari offered a deliberately simple, popular and immediately recognisable foundation.
Its transparent bodywork transforms the vehicle into an architecture of light. Rather than concealing the cabin, materials and gestures that make up the creation, it reveals them.
Antoine Tauvel has chosen to shift this familiar silhouette into a radically different universe: that of decorative arts, exceptional savoir-faire and dreams.
Thus, the Méhari preserves the purity and lightness of its original form, while becoming the showcase for a collection of pieces designed with twelve exceptional French artisans.
From the Earth to the stars
Astre Mobile is designed as a space-time machine.
Each part of the vehicle contributes to a narrative inspired by the four elements.
Earth is embodied in the minerality of the white onyx hubcaps. Water surfaces in the upholstery embroidered with shells from France’s various coastlines. Air palpitates in the feather marquetry of the speedometer. Fire is manifested through the brass details and gold-leaf applications.
The odometer is perpetually frozen at 40,075 kilometres, a reference to the Earth's circumference. The driving position thus leaves the realm of mechanics to become a poetic observatory.
Every material, every number and every detail contributes to transforming the road into an inner journey.
Feather marquetery speedometer
Maison Vermeulen
Limoges porcelain gear lever
Ateliers Arquié
Shell-embroidered upholstery
Aurélie Lanoiselée
Leather straps
Elise Blouet
White onyx hubcaps
Hervé Obligi
Photographs above by Kevin Van Campenhout and detail photographs below by Edouard Elias
Urushi-lacquered key
Alexandre Duboc
White onyx hubcaps in trompe-l'oeil
Pierre-Yves Morel
Gold-leaf-gilded heliogravure
Fanny Boucher and Lise Richardot
Driftwood steering wheel
Claude Prautois
Metal-embroidered emblem
Marie Archambaud
A constellation of gestures
Astre Mobile was born from the dialogue between Antoine Tauvel's vision and the exceptional expertise of twelve exceptional French artisans.
Featherwork, embroidery, porcelain, heliogravure, gilding, woodwork, urushi lacquer, Russian leather, lapidary work and trompe-l'œil meet in a single artwork.
These interventions are not conceived as a technical demonstration. Each one responds to a precise intention and contributes to the overall coherence of the project.
The instrument panel becomes a poetic clock of space-time. The upholstery retains the memory of an imaginary shore. The porcelain gear lever bears the imprint of the hand. The urushi-lacquered key becomes a talisman. The onyx hubcaps transform into celestial bodies of light.
Through these gestures, the art of fine craftsmanship does not simply embellish the car: it transfigures it.
A reversible work of art
Astre Mobile was conceived from the outset as a reversible work.
Its components are not permanently linked to their automotive function. They can leave the vehicle to continue their existence in an interior, a gallery or a collection.
The speedometer can be turned into a table clock. The engraved plate on the heater housing becomes a printing plate. The stone hubcaps can be joined together to form a lamp. The bodywork emblem becomes a sculptural brooch.
This reversibility allows each element to change status, scale and use.
The mechanical object becomes a sculpture. The equipment becomes a work of art in its own right. Physical movement gives way to a journey of the mind.
A sensory experience
Astre Mobile is a work of art that is discovered progressively.
From a distance, it appears as a sleek, almost monochrome silhouette in shades of sand, cream and gold.
As you draw nearer, you can make out the ultramarine blue feathers on the dial, the embroidered shells, the veining of the onyx, the texture of the Russian leather and the shimmer of the lacquer.
Touch, light, scent and movement complete this visual experience.
Maison Lacmé has thus created a piece intended not only to be looked at, but to be approached, experienced and explored.
Wonder as a destination
Astre Mobile isn’t trying to go any faster or any further.
His destination is somewhere else.
It invites a fresh look at a familiar object, the materials that make it up and the actions required to transform it.
By bringing together the imagination of childhood, the history of decorative arts, contemporary exceptional savoir-faire and the great narratives of exploration, the work opens up a space suspended between memory and future.
Astre Mobile's finest trajectory is measured not in kilometres, but in its capacity for wonder and the freedom of its imagination.
Explore the various interventions that make up Astre Mobile and meet the twelve exceptional French artisans who took part in its creation.