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video www.ted.com American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an entertaining    and ... Picture

Title: Chris Bangle: Great cars are Art
Description: www.ted.com American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an entertaining and ...

video Statement of Chris Bangle, Director Design BMW Group concerning his work and design approach. Picture

Title: Chris Bangle on Bangle
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video BMW Vodcast from the Detrit motor Show Chris Bangle, Director of Design of BMW Group gives us his personal impressions of the BMW Group exhibits ... Picture

Title: Chris Bangle gives us his personal overview of BMW Group
Description: BMW Vodcast from the Detrit motor Show Chris Bangle, Director of Design of BMW Group gives us his personal impressions of the BMW Group exhibits ...

video Chris Bangle   On the idea of BMW GINA, Director Design, BMW Group Picture

Title: Chris Bangle On the idea of BMW GINA, Director Design, BMW
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video Canadian Journalists Jeremy Cato and Michael Vaughan get an exclusive presentation of the BMW 1 Series by Chris Bangle, Head of BMW Group Design ... Picture

Title: Chris Bangle presents BMW 1 Series
Description: Canadian Journalists Jeremy Cato and Michael Vaughan get an exclusive presentation of the BMW 1 Series by Chris Bangle, Head of BMW Group Design ...

video 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 ... Picture

Title: Chris Bangle: Great cars are Art
Description: 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 ...

video Chris Bangle gives his a first impression of the ideas behind the process of sculpturing an experimental study. This is the story behind this ... Picture

Title: BMW GINA Chris Bangle Gives His First Impressions
Description: Chris Bangle gives his a first impression of the ideas behind the process of sculpturing an experimental study. This is the story behind this ...

video Chris Bangle, Director of Design of BMW Group gives us his personal impressions of the BMW Group exhibits here in Detroit. Picture

Title: Chris Bangle gives us his overview at the Detroit Motor show
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Chris Bangle Biography

Chris Bangle
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Chris Bangle

Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars.

He was born in Ravenna, Ohio, and raised in Wausau, Wisconsin. After considering becoming a Methodist minister,1 Bangle attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, earning a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master's degree in Industrial Design.2

Bangle started his career at Opel. The first work that he designed is the interior of the Junior concept car. He later moved to Fiat and worked as a chief designer of the Fiat Coupe.

He became the first American chief of design of BMW on October 1, 1992, where he designed the Z9 Gran Turismo concept car. His styling themes have generated intense controversy among automotive designers, and have often had a polarizing effect.

On February 3, 2009, Bangle announced that he was to quit both his position at BMW and the auto industry altogether, to focus on his own design-related endeavours.3 He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk.45

Contents

Design characteristics

Bangle's designs are incorporated in the entire BMW lineup, including the 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 series as well as the X3, X5, and X6 the newest design SUVs, and the concept car Gina. These span the automotive platforms E81 / E82 / E87 / E88, E90 / E91 / E92 / E93, E60 / E61, E63 / E64 ,E65 / E66 and E53. Bangle himself coined the phrase "flame surfacing" to describe his work and is probably the first time Deconstructivism has been adapted to automotive design. This is further evidenced by the fact that Bangle has often pointed out architect Frank Gehry's work as a major influence.

The most controversial of his work was the E65 7 Series, a sharp contrast to the preceding E38 generation which was conservatively styled. Time magazine named it as one of the 50 Worst Cars of All Time for its rear end styling and iDrive functionality, nonetheless it became the best-selling 7 Series of all time.67

Motor Trend's article Interview: Chris Bangle, BMW's Design Chief says:

Love or loathe his work, Bangle's impact on auto design has been profound. No other designer, not even legendary GM design chief Harley Earl, has so rapidly become a part of the industry lexicon. To "bangle" a design is now an auto-industry verb for ruining it. Auto writers use "Bangle butt" to describe a tail with an extra layer of metal on the trunk (think new Mercedes S-Class). Bangle, some rivals will remind you, is only one letter away from "bungle."1

Despite those criticisms, Bangle's distinctive designs yielded strong commercial success for BMW. In 2006, BMW overtook Mercedes as the global leader in premium car sales. BMW will continue to use Bangle's current design cues at least through 2010.8

Bangle aggressively defended his designs against criticism. He was supported by the BMW board of directors, which wanted to move BMW's image into the future.9 He said it was necessary for product lines to follow a cycle of a revolutionary generation followed by an evolutionary generation followed by another revolutionary generation and so on. Indeed, he oversaw the conservative evolution of BMW designs with the redesign of the BMW 3-Series BMW E46 and the introduction of the BMW X5. For Bangle this marked the end of the evolution of BMW design and the revolution was witnessed with the 2002 introduction of the BMW E65. Bangle acknowledges that his designs do not look good in photographs, suggesting to critics that they should see the cars in real life before judging them on their looks. He introduced a new BMW concept car, called GINA on June 10, 2008.

Peer comments

  • J Mays, Ford's chief creative officer, dislikes Bangle's designs, but admits Bangle has been significant in reshaping modern cars.1
  • Marc Newson, an industrial designer and car enthusiast, described Bangle's BMW Z4 as having been designed with a machete.10
  • Patrick le Quément, chief designer at Renault, said: "[Bangle is] certainly the most talked about designer. His designs have a great deal of presence, and they're well proportioned. He's been highly influential. My only concern is his use of concave surfaces: they're hollow shapes and lack that tightly muscled look I feel helps design."1
  • Martin Smith, head of design for Ford of Europe, describes Bangle as an instigator of the trend toward "surface entertainment" in cars; the Ford Iosis bears some resemblance to Bangle-styled BMWs but it was not criticized as much as Bangle's designs.1
  • Dr Klaus Draeger, BMW AG's Board Member for Development, said: "Christopher Bangle has had a lasting impact on the identity of BMW Group's brands. His contribution to the company's success has been decisive, and together with his teams he has mapped out a clear and aesthetic route into the future,"11

References

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