UPDATE: The designer of the Camper Lotus, Patty Yuan, has contacted us with some corrections to our original post on her urban commuter. The design is actually her senior thesis project, and is simply a proposal to suggest what such a commuter vehicle might look like if it were designed by the company Camper. Neither Camper nor Lotus participated in the design of the Campter Lotus, and it appears as if the web has been creatively extrapolating both company's involvement from the project's name.

Spanish shoe brand Camper is just as famous for its lifestyle projects as it is for its shoes. FoodBALL, for example, is a restaurant opened up by the company pushing organic fast food in the form of whole grain rice balls filled with more organic, locally-sourced stuff (mushrooms, chicken, carob, etc.). Even the take-away materials are fully biodegradable, made from corn and sugar cane. Casa Camper, another endeavor, is a hotel tucked away in the cultural ground zero of Barcelona -- minutes from the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre of Contemporary Culture. Standard rooms have additional private space across the hall where guests can watch TV in hammocks or embark upon other projects, and as with FoodBALL, the environment is top priority.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to diversify in strange places, Camper has teamed up with Lotus to create an ecologically-friendly (concept) answer to Chinese traffic congestion. The Camper Lotus Personal Commuter is targeted at young entrepreneurs trying to find a better way to get to work. The gyroscopic two-wheeler has an incredibly small footprint, making parking a breeze, and encourages customization both inside and out. The enclosed nature of the car also provides the driver with personal space, a commodity difficult to come by on a scooter or bicycle. Power comes from household wall outlets, by the way, making for a convenient and generally cleaner makeup.

[via Jalopnik]