For the global reveal of Volvo’s flagship electric saloon, the ES90, we partnered with AKQA to create an atmospheric opening film designed to set the tone for the live keynote. Separate from the campaign TVC, this piece was conceived as an immersive installation — introducing the car not through spectacle, but through material essence and spatial illusion.

The presentation environment was architectural and theatrical: the car perched on the tip of an inverted four-sided pyramid, concealed within sheer fabric screens that transformed the structure into a floating, glowing cube. Our film was projection-mapped onto these screens, simulating a suspended block of frosted glass within which elemental forms drifted and evolved.

The visual narrative was built around four core materials — each representing a principle of the ES90’s design philosophy. A polished rod for metal, a crystal-like shard for glass, a flowing sheet for fabric, and a CPU unit for technology. As these objects hovered inside the ‘glass cube’, they only revealed their full shape when brushing close to the inner surface, playing with perception, tactility and restraint.

In the film’s final moments, the floating elements subtly aligned, settling into the silhouette of the car itself — a ghosted presence within the cube. Just as this form became legible, the fabric screens lifted in synchrony, revealing the physical ES90 in place, perfectly mirroring the shape that had just emerged in motion.