airstream

airstream trailers - were delighted by those shiny bubbles floating down the highway en route to a scenic summer destination ...................................

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want to escape to quiet sunny deserts ?
airstream trailers

august 2001
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with their sleek metallic exteriors, these travel trailers
are a nostalgic piece of america.
even today customers love the timeless beauty of the
aerodynamic shapes and the ingenious efficiency of
the compact space, but the average age
of a first-time travel trailer buyer is 64 years old !

a lot of manufacturers fail to recognize that there
is a huge audience in its 20s and 30s
(surfers, snowboarders, moto-cross racers and
mountain bikers) that would buy trailers that looked
cool and suited their active lifestyles.

airstream has now reinvented a classic so that it
appeals to this new generation,
available this 2001 fall.

for last year’s ICFF exhibit,
wilsonart international has joined forces with
new york based group 'inside design'
to create its centerpiece, the 'bambi',
a vintage aluminum travel trailer.
for the presentation this 1948 gem has been
restored on the outside and completely redesigned
on the inside with extensive use of wilsonart laminate.

christopher deam, a san francisco-based,
george nelson award-winning architect and furniture designer,
was commissioned to redesign the interior.
'initially I was interested in updating the trailer to make
it more appealing to a younger aesthetic, but intellectually I
was interested in creating a second skin for the shell,'
says deam.
'I used laminate because it is a lightweight, durable,
affordable and forward-looking material that is consistent
with the trailer aesthetic,' he says.

'the interiors have never been as beautiful as the shell.
we wanted to make the inside as aesthetically pleasing
as the outside.' explains jim huff, creative director of
inside design.

'laminate is the perfect material for this application
because it is warm in contrast to the coolness of the
aluminum shell,' says grace jeffers, a design historian and
consultant to wilsonart.
'laminate has long been a material of choice for cabinetry,
furniture, transportation and prefabricated housing.
laminate is, like the trailer, nostalgically familiar and modern,
even futuristic, in attitude.'

[ see see the history of airstream trailers ]

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http://www.airstream.com
http://www.insidedesign.com
http://www.wilsonart.com
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the exterior of an airstream trailer, with its
curved form, is an exceptionally strong shell
made of two metal shells joined by ribs.
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