American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an engaging account of the BMW Group’s Deep Blue project, intended to create the SUV of the future. Sending a team of German designers to live in the US and research the future of the SUV seemed like a good idea at the time.
It didn’t, however, have quite the results Bangle was expecting. Instead, the project unearthed some fundamental problems of car design, including the tensions between designer and engineer. This passionate, entertaining — and ultimately moving — account of the process sheds new light on a design discipline that’s often overlooked by those unaccustomed to looking at cars as Art with a capital A.
About Chris Bangle
American designer Chris Bangle understands that it can be difficult to see a car in terms of Art with a capital A. As such, he separates his work into issues of “automobiles” (unemotional products, causing problems such as pollution and congestion) and “car-iness” (an expansion of the human, and ultimately a truly artistic expression). Satisfying the tensions between these problems — and the tensions between engineers and designers — is, for him, the essence of his work.
Offering radical forms and ideas, Bangle has been a polarizing figure within the industry. Entirely undeterred, Bangle continues to oversee all of the brands within the BMW family, including Mini and Rolls-Royce.
