The all-new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus is sleek and modern, delivering much of what is expected today of a contemporary luxury SUV. While Lincoln has outfitted their newest mid-size vehicle with a perfectly handsome personality, if not notably an overall improved design language, the Nautilus’ more daring attributes reside housed within its boldly designed cabin fashioned to engage all of the senses.

Unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show, the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus is one of the better looking mid-sized SUV earmarked for the roads today. While it shares some of the front visage characteristics of its smaller sibling, the Lincoln Corsair, the pronounced grille across the Nautilus appears more proportionally confident and less of an agape maw, perhaps attributed to the horizontal light bar stretching from one wing-shaped daytime running light across to the other directing eyes toward its emblem and tying each element together like a belt to a buckle. Whatever timidity tainted our impression of the Corsair, the Nautilus does not suffer, with a “confidently grounded” stance.

The taut side silhouette of the Nautilus is muscular, yet also relaxed, accentuated by its aggressively rendered rocker molding paired with a gentler and sculpted arch bridging front and rear wheel wells.

We’ve recently had the opportunity to drive the aforementioned smaller and more attainably appointed sibling, the Corsair, and noted the American brand’s efforts reflect an orchestrated effort to refresh Lincoln’s lingering reputation associated with conservative design.

These elements of curvature play against the more linear details stretching across the SUV’s side, including a black steak knife door emblem topped by an even longer horizontal black window trim that curves out twice along its length to cleverly operate as door handles. Credit the design to Lincoln’s Irvine, California studio following the direction of Lincoln’s Design Director, Kemal Curic for moving the needle forward.

The tastefully handsome profile of the 2024 Nautilus is derived from an even more dynamic series of early renders and sketches showcasing an exaggerated windswept gesture culminating in an angular ducktail accentuated by its pronounced tail light. Though this earlier design explored a weightier and brutish four-wheel presence, many of its details go onto to be visible in the final design.

The reimagined cabin incorporates new ambient lighting along with crystal-inspired details, including a piano key shifter, instrument panel toggles, and audio knob that shimmers. Shown here in the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus Reserve with Jet Appearance Package and Black Onyx trim.

Things get more interesting once inside the Nautilus, where driver and front passenger are enveloped by the automotive equivalent of the Cinerama movie screen. Two widescreen 24-inch displays conjoined into one massive immersive 48-inch screen is complemented by an 11.1-inch touchscreen within arm’s reach. The sum projects a new tech-forward identity for the brand, the digital display stage upon where Lincoln presents Lincoln Rejuvenate – “a multisensory, in-cabin experience including lighting and digital scenting.”

The 2024 Lincoln Black Label Nautilus Hybrid with Redwood trim interior

One of 28 Revel Ultima audio speakers

The atmospheric environment of Lincoln Rejuvenate is only available while the vehicle is stationary, combining lighting, screen visuals, and personal preferences, such as seating position and even massage options, to create “an immersive digital sanctuary based on different moods.” If aromatherapy is desired, the brand’s specially curated digital scents delivered via three different cartridges housed in the center armrest can mist the cabin with Mystic Forest (an earthy blend with woody, rich notes of patchouli), Ozonic Azure (a crisp blend of aromatic patchouli and traces of bright violet), or Violet Cashmere (exotic white florals and trusted violet).

The sense of sound is served by 28 speakers of the Revel Ultima 3D Audio System.

The all-new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus rolls in as a clear statement of brand that is diligently working to shake off some of the dust that gathered across the brand’s moniker. And if this sleek mid-sized SUV is a sign of what is to come, the automaker might very well be able to sway a new generation of car buyers to consider the Nautilus, and other Lincoln models by literally appealing to their senses.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

cc-tapis, Italian producer of contemporary handmade artisan rugs, continues to collaborate with some of the best talents in design. During Milan Design Week 2023, several groundbreaking techniques and design approaches were introduced that further expand possibilities within the industry. New collaborations with Formafantasma and Objects of Common Interest, alongside 2023 collections by Patricia Urquiola and Bethan Laura Wood made their debut. There was also a site-specific installation at Chiesa di San Celso that featured the Le Arcs collection by Charlotte Perriand, finally brought to life.

Moiré Collection

In Moiré, Objects of Common Interest – Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis – shares its take on the natural moiré-like patterns that can be found in the grain and rings of wood, erosion, and decomposition. The collection juxtaposes the contemporary, the traditional, and the experimental through the visuals the duo observed in nature. OoCI combined these studies with three unconventional monochromatic shapes that expand in all directions, acting as an ever-evolving pattern.

Moire, Objects of Common Interest Photo: Michele Foti Art Direction: Motel 409

In a first for cc-tapis, a complex two-century-old jacquard technique was brought into play that’s rarely used in rug making. The method was used to create three rug designs: Zig-zag, Splash, and Quadratic. “The three shapes are almost like cutouts of an endless landscape, frozen moments in time, samples extracted to be studied up close,” said Petaloti and Trampoukis.

The design reflects light, an effect achieved by combining wool and Tencel – a sustainable fiber which has a shine similar to silk. Jacquard weaving allows for designs which would be near impossible to create using cc-tapis’ Tibetan hand-knotting techniques, making Moiré a reality.

Moire, Objects of Common Interest Photo: Mattia Greghi

Telegram Collection, Formafantasma Photo: Michele Foti Art Direction: Motel 409

Telegram Collection

Formafantasma introduces its Telegram collection of rugs, woven with personal messages chosen by the rug makers themselves. Beyond the handmade aspect, these rugs call out the individual behind the creation.

“We wanted to remove the veil between us and the makers,” said Formafantasma’s Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi. “It’s the beginning of a dialogue, instead of merely a finished product.”

Telegram Collection, Formafantasma Photo: Michele Foti Art Direction: Motel 409

Formafantasma posed several questions to the artisans: Where they come from, what they see out the window as they work, a favorite band, and more – which revealed personal aspects of each craft person’s life that became motifs. Using a restrained color palette, each rug represents names, places, and thoughts that each maker holds dear.

Telegram Collection, Formafantasma Photo: Mattia Greghi

Pipeline Collection, Patricia Urquiola Photo: Michele Foti Art Direction: Motel 409

Pipeline Collection

Patricia Urquiola reveals her Pipeline collection of digitally generated tubular artwork that has been transformed into artisan-made rugs and wall hangings. A series of connected tubes emerge from the surface of each rug, creating a maze of color with plenty of volume and depth. Circular shapes create movement, overlapping layers of Himalayan wool and highlighting the space outlined by the tubes.

Artisans rethought the original Pipeline designs for both horizontal and vertical applications, blurring the line between design and art. Some tubes all but grow from the surface of through pile heights!

Pipeline Collection, Patricia Urquiola Photo: Mattia Greghi

Pipeline Collection, Patricia Urquiola Photo: Mattia Greghi

Guadalupe Collection, Bethan Laura Wood Photo: Michele Foti Art Direction: Motel 409

Guadalupe Collection

Bethan Laura Wood debuts her Guadalupe collection, inspired by the 1974 stained-glass windows of the famed church of Our Lady of Guadalupe located in Mexico City. Using her own archive of “public patterns” collected during travels, Wood applies color, texture, symbols, and detail to capture the graphic shapes of the church’s stained-glass windows. Rhythmic and expressive, the patterns loosely resemble tradition Otomi embroidery on each hand-knotted piece made with Himalayan wool, linen, silk, and aloe.

Guadalupe Collection, Bethan Laura Wood Photo: Mattia Greghi

Guadalupe Collection, Bethan Laura Wood Photo: Mattia Greghi

Les Arcs Collection, Charlotte Perriand Photo: Alejandro Ramirez Orozco

Les Arcs Collection

Designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1972, this collection is finally having its moment. Created for the Les Arcs ski station in the French Alps, she intended to include textile panels in the interiors, but budgetary constraints nixed the plan. After 50+ years, cc-tapis worked with custodians of the Charlotte Perriand archive to give life to the designs.

Color is the central theme, and cc-tapis was challenged in reproducing Perriand’s 12-shade palette. Each color – with the exceptions of black and white – was created by hand using an abrash dying technique. The collection of five knotted rugs were made entirely by hand in Nepal by Tibetan artisans.

Les Arcs Collection, Charlotte Perriand Photo: Alejandro Ramirez Orozco

Presented in the San Celso church, Milan-based curator and set-designer Michela Croci, took advantage of the church inviting visitors to engage in the space from the floor to ceiling, introducing a new perspective on rugs. “My ambition was to work on a purely imaginative level, elevating the rugs from a purely domestic dimension,” Croci said.

To learn more about cc-tapis and the brand’s latest collections, visit cc-tapis.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.