SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 GQ.COM.AU 143CARS
BMW knows
that the
crossover
between
flying and
car travel
is very
much the
way of the
near future.
a panoramic front screen that
adopts the sculptural surfacing
of the interior.”
Aside from its many obvious
and annoying failings, the
commercial airline business does
have expertise in influencing
your perception of space, mainly
through the use of light, colour
and materials.
In the case of first class cabins,
Designworks’ goal is to make
the environment feel “special
and intimate,” which it does by
using different colours, fibres and
finishes on the interior space, as
opposed to the surfaces that face
out towards the aisle.
Designworks also works with
consumer-electronics clients
on ‘Smart City’ projects and
is involved with ethnographic
research on people’s
expectations for the future of
connectivity, personalisation
and “seamlessness”.
While BMW’s ‘Future’
sculpture moves away from
the clinical concept cars we’re
used to seeing, is it still a case
of function over form, and
practicality over beauty?
“As designers we play with
those sliders a bit,” admits Robin.
“No matter what, we strive to
balance meaningful functionality
[it has to fit a need and deliver
on that need exquisitely] and the
proper aesthetic expression.
“Must design always be
‘beautiful’? Maybe not. But
it must make us feel. Feel
delighted, or provoked. Feel
confident, or challenged.
“The beauty we strive
for is a holistic beauty – the
visual aesthetic leads us into
an experience, but the beauty
is rounded out by a well-
conceived, essential and
considered user experience.”
Robin says all of the world’s
automotive companies are
looking at the implications of
an autonomous future for their
brands and design work.
Mercedes-Benz, for example,
is working with Boeing on cabin
architecture and new seats that
are capable of monitoring andeven improving your health while
in a car.
At the more mass-market end
of motoring, Carlos Ghosn, the
enigmatic and opinionated CEO
of the giant Renault-Nissan
Alliance is predicting a rapid rate
of change.
“By 2022, most of the cars
on the street will have some
kind of autonomy as well as
some kind of connectivity, and
the premium market is going
to be totally autonomous and
totally connected,” he says, and
by connectivity he means fully
content streaming, FaceTiming-
and wifi-enabled.
“You’re going to have massive
growth in the next four or five
years because it’s such a huge
advantage for the driver. This
will change the way people see
cars, because your vehicle will
become a mobile space where you
can work, you can rest, you can
relax, you can video conference.
Compare that to today where it’s
a transport device – you sit there
with your eyes on the road and
you can’t do anything else but
listen to music.”
Ghosn says that if you look at
how much time people currently
spend, on average, in their cars- which is an hour a day in the
US and Australia, and up to two
hours in parts of Europe and
China – you really are looking
at changing the way you live by
clawing back that time.
“What’s driving autonomy is
that the customer will want it. It’s
a productivity gain, it’s adding
quality of life and giving time to
the consumer, because you can
suddenly use those two hours to
finish your reports, teach your
kids, read a book,” he says.
“Obviously, this is of huge
interest to the car makers because
it means the car becomes an
even more indispensable part of
people’s lives. It’s integral now,
but it’s only a device for getting
your body from one place to
another. Once we have autonomy
and connectivity, it becomes
a mobile space to live in.” n
bmw.com.au
into our work in aircraft business
and first class cabins. It’s
moving away from the notion
of ‘designing a seat’ to ‘designing
an environment’.
“Moreover, as we navigate
through a proliferation of screens
in our daily interactions, with
inherent distractions, we wanted
to create an environment where
technology was on-demand
and invisible when not needed.
Using a ‘HoloActive Touch’
interface for the main controller
eliminates obstruction and
overall clutter and interacts withVARIOUS VIEWS
OF BMW’S
CONCEPT
‘i INSIDE FUTURE’.