CUPRA and 032c Designed A Car Cover for the Culture
Berlin has a habit of leaving its mark on everything that passes through. Posters overlap until they become collages. Stickers multiply across street signs, utility boxes, and bathroom doors. Layers accumulate over years, creating a visual language that belongs entirely to the city itself. It’s unpolished yet personal. On an early summer evening at CUPRA City Garage Berlin, that same language found itself stretched across something considerably larger: the CUPRA Raval.
To celebrate its latest collaboration with Berlin-based publication and cultural platform 032c, CUPRA welcomed guests to its City Garage Berlin. Drinks circulated through the space as a DJ soundtrack drifted through the evening air. Friends of both brands, creatives, industry figures, and familiar faces from Berlin's cultural scene gathered beneath the fading sunlight, slowly gravitating toward an enormous silver object occupying the center of the venue. Encased beneath an inflated cover plastered with stickers, racing graphics, tags, and symbols, it looked less like a car and more like a giant fragment of Berlin itself.
Designed by 032c, the installation transformed the vehicle into a cultural object, drawing on the visual codes and lived experiences that shape urban environments while inviting guests to question what lay beneath. In doing so, it evoked the sticker-covered interiors of club bathrooms, smoking areas, and corridors, where layers of stickers compete for space and attention.
At the heart of the collaboration between CUPRA and 032c is this homage to Berlin culture. Creative Director at 032c, Maria Koch, explained the intention behind the installation. The cover was designed not simply to hide the vehicle, but to become a centerpiece in its own right, creating intrigue while reflecting the visual energy of the city that inspired it.
Around the installation, guests browsed the accompanying accessories capsule with drinks in hand. Throughout the collection, familiar elements of Berlin's urban landscape reappeared in new forms. The collaboration sought to transform functional automotive objects into vehicles for self-expression, applying 032c's visual language to items traditionally associated with utility. Among the pieces was a reversible safety vest inspired by one of the publication's most recognizable garments: the bomber jacket. The reference seemed particularly fitting, as few silhouettes have remained as closely linked to underground nightlife and club culture as the bomber, Koch explained.
For decades, it has existed at the intersection of function and subculture, moving seamlessly between dance floors, city streets, and fashion collections. Here, that legacy is reinterpreted through a fully functional garment that combines reflective detailing and high-visibility elements with the aesthetic language of the 032c universe. At the same time, a customized charging cable and connector case transformed an everyday utility object through the same design cues found across the collaboration.
As the evening progressed, guests gathered for dinner, enjoying plates of paella while conversations flowed. Music continued throughout the meal, creating a steady backdrop as attendees moved between discussions of design, culture, and the evolving relationship between fashion and mobility. A live performance by singer ELASI brought new energy to the evening. Yet despite the applause surrounding the performance, it was clear that the night's defining moment was still ahead.
Soon, the crowd reassembled around the inflated structure. A group of ninja-esque dancers emerged and began circling the installation, turning the reveal into a performance of its own. As the cover finally came away, the new CUPRA Raval in Manganese Green was revealed underneath, prompting guests to gather around the vehicle for a closer look and, naturally, a chance to sit behind the wheel.
As the evening drew to a close, the focus naturally shifted away from the objects themselves and toward the conversations they had sparked. Outside, Berlin carried on as it always does. Inside, CUPRA, 032c, and guests danced into the night as they celebrated a unique collaboration of accessories and installation design that felt unmistakably rooted in the city that inspired it.
