ecently, Chris Bangle,
ex-Chief of Design at BMW, attended a fundraiser event as a guest
speaker. He spoke about his design philosophy and sat down to chat with
the folks over at MotoBullet.
Here is an excerpt from their article:
“Bangle joined the Wolfsonian for a weekend-long celebration of the
car as rolling sculpture. While this idea has been used many times
before, the Wolfsonian Museum provides the perfect backdrop to
emphasize there is life in industrial design. Located in the art-deco
nucleus that is Miami, the Wolfsonian specializes in showing there is
personality in bricks, mortar, and metal.
It’s easy to understand why Bangle doesn’t see polarizing elements as
design setbacks. He embraces unique vehicles that incorporate elements
that go beyond simple function. Life and personality is what he is
looking for in his designs. Bangle speaks with enough affection for
unique car designs that finishing a car is like creating a child. He
gives it unconditional love, flaws and all.
But Bangle admits that modern cars don’t just live in a vacuum of
design, and they must adapt to the reality of the situation. For
example, he explains the creation of the Bangle Butt as largely due to:
“The reality of engines pushed the hood up 6 cm, and that caused a
chain reaction all the way to the end of the car.” In the final
product, even the compromises of reality don’t dilute the art of a
well-designed car. Bangle believes that when love and passion go into a
design, they breathe life and personality into that inanimate object,
turning it into “the biggest sculpture ever.”
This life/art balance is where Bangle feels most at home, and his
comfort has led to exploring new boundaries. He made the Gina concept
car out of fabric so the body could contour instantly to new shapes,
including creating a winking feature for the headlights. He has also
utilized paper origami to incorporate into sheet metal car bodies.