German Car Zone

Just_me · 08-29-2006, 07:19 AM

Chris Bangle's reign as BMW's top designer is over. But, as he tells Nargess Shahmanesh-Banks, the aesthetic revolution has just begun

The whole Article here

PanterroR · 08-29-2006, 07:55 AM

I love how the articl starts:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Article

Bangle. No longer just a name, more an institution.

His cars are ugly, his cars are this, his cars are that, but still they're #1 in the world! Why? Becasue of their design? A-a, because they're ultimate driving machines!

And again, another proof that design isn't the 1st thing you look at when you buy a car, as many people think. I don't...

EnI · 08-29-2006, 08:26 AM

The basics of Bangle's design philosophy: car as a mobile communication statement; car: being a subject instead of being an object; (with such language he persuades the BoD):

Bangle believes that the car should be a socially conscious object, "if we do our jobs right," he notes. The car, after all, is one if not the most "democratic" object around and perhaps the most alive. "Just to follow your metaphor of life," he continues, "what makes the car alive is for it to be responsive, animate. Does it react, have its own opinion, does it communicate, does it move you? There has to be more of a message than 'I'm beautiful, I'm powerful, I'm sexy'. There has to be an intellectual side to it, a responsibility side."

Also, pay attention to the future moves (I've already explain them to you in several threads):

Bangle thinks that BMW's way has always been to jump first, refine the second-generation and then jump again. "So if history turns out to be a predictor of the future then the phase we are entering now is the phase of refinement," he says. Bangle's replacement, Adrian van Hooydonk, and his team are working hard on a new line of BMW cars to make this perfection and harmonisation happen. "We have new models coming out that we have never done before, that have to fit exactly in this line as well as being as historically correct as if they've been around for 50 years," he says.

Explanation why 3er is soo "tame" compared to other models in line-up.

Perhaps the 3-series is a result of this latter-phase thinking. Many were a little disappointed that BMW's most popular car didn't go through a proper aesthetic revolution when it was reborn. Bangle explains that had he launched the car "without any brothers or sisters" the result would have shocked us all, but as it turns out we are less shockable post 1-, 5-, 6- and 7-series. "The 3-series is an icon and with all icons you have to be a little bit careful not to stray off," he adds.

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German Car Zone

Article: Chris Bangle's legacy: The man who freshened up BMW