RE: BMW M unveils standalone 750hp XM

[wyson]

FA57REN said:

Ahem: Messrs Bangle and Stephenson were both educated in design at the same establishment, the College of Design in Pasadena.

I watched a video where Bangle said this ‘high cultural’ influence was missing from car design and he wanted to elevate it by incorporating those elements. He looked to other design areas for inspiration, such as architecture, because as head of BMW design he needed to set a new direction. The design of the E46 and E39 were the pinnacle for that particular language.

Its a good video, saw it on youtube. The designers went on some sort of retreat to be indoctrinated with his new thinking. I think it still shows in BMW’s output, even now, years after he has left.

Although I have no idea what they were taught at Pasedena, looking at student output from car design schools in the UK that get featured in magazines, there isn’t a ‘high cultural’ element to any of the designs. Its much more practical and students speak very much like Stephenson.

I think car design and ‘high cultural’ design are different worlds. To my eyes this XM is part of Bangles legacy, in that it tries to straddle both.

Edited by wyson on Saturday 8th January 08:05

[Stick Legs]

To continue the architectural comparisons LeCorbusier’s floating structures and modernist design is lauded,it’s clever and thoughtful and efficient.

But people still want to live in a chocolate box cottage.

Now a lot of the negativity in modernism was because the designs were foistered upon the lower socio-economic tiers and became tarnished by association.
If Erno Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower had been built in Bayswater and each floor was a luxury flat I think the history of modernism in thus country would be very different.

It isn’t that the majority don’t embrace change however, many new designs have found traction with us luddites, never the less there is a point at which good aesthetic is good aesthetic full stop.
The E-Type, Blenheim Palace, the Crystal Bic Biro etc etc.

Making things deliberately jarring to look at with not distinct functional gain is silly, pretentious and you don’t need to be a graduate of St.Martins College to know that something is awful looking, or a graduate of Cranwell to realise it probably isn’t going to work as well as something less challenging.