The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies has given a GOOD DESIGN award in the category ‘Transportation’ to the Goodyear Eagle-360. 

Unveiled at the 2016 Geneva International Motor Show, the spherical, 3-D printed tyre presents a solution for the long-term future when autonomous driving is expected to be more mainstream, with its unique shape contributing to safety and manoeuvrability.

The spherical shape of the Eagle-360 is key to delivering ultimate manoeuvrability to match the demands of autonomous mobility, while active technology allows the tyre to move as needed to reduce sliding from potential hazards, such as black ice or sudden obstacles.

An in-depth description of the concept’s technology can be viewed in this video:

“By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in self-driving vehicles, tyres will play an even more important role as the primary link to the road,” said Goodyear’s Chief Technical Officer Joe Zekoski. “Although the Eagle-360 is a future concept, it represents an essential aspect of Goodyear’s innovation strategy and our vision for smart and safe mobility.”

For 2016, the Museum received submissions from several thousand manufacturers and graphic design firms from around the world and selected over 900 product designs and graphics worthy of the GOOD DESIGN Award. The Eagle-360 is now part of the Museum’s Permanent Design Collection and will be published in the GOOD DESIGN Yearbook for 2016-2017.

“We welcome this great recognition for the tremendous work done by our designers and engineers who developed the Goodyear Eagle-360. It shows that Goodyear truly is at the forefront of industry innovation and leading the way for new technologies”, said Olivier Rousseau, Vice President Consumer PBU EMEA at Goodyear.

This latest award follows the Eagle-360 Concept Tyre’s accolade of being named one of Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year 2016”.