Furniture | March 31, 20091 Comment

Leon Fitzpatrick discusses BMW and green design

Leon Fitzpatrick and I met while we were students at CCS. He is now a product designer and manages to squeeze in time to write about green design for Design Hole. Today he’s discussing automotive design.

BMW: the leader in environmental auto design

Perhaps there should be a redefinition of ‚Äògood design‚Äô. Or, better yet, perhaps there should be a more clear distinction between ‚Äòdesign‚Äô and ‚Äòstyle‚Äô. There are probably numerous examples I could spurt out to illustrate this; in the past I‚Äôve taken shots at the celebrity designer phenomenon… but I‚Äôm going to take an unconventional route this time and relate it to automotive design.

BMW as a company had adhered their design language to a very logical and linear path of evolution. But in the early 21st century BMW’s American designer, Chris Bangle created a schism in the car design realm with the introduction of the new 7 series. So signaled the era of the “Bangle butt”, the unflattering name given to the protruding trunk that has since been emulated by everyone from Hyundai to Mercedes.

Thus a shift in demographic occurred; BMW purists were left to grumble and complain, while the drastic shift in brand image attracted a new audience. I for one was a grumbler. Yet recently I began to consider what good design really entails, and it‚Äôs certainly more than skin deep. Beneath the ‚Äòflame surfacing‚Äô and bold graphical break-ups of any BMW lies incredible levels of engineering quality, and if you go deeper yet… it‚Äôs green.

BMW is the leader in green design – not Toyota. In 1973 BMW was the first automaker to appoint an environmental officer, an industry first. Currently at least 85% of their cars are recyclable, and 95% reclaimable with the remaining 5% being disposed of responsibly.

With their Efficient Dynamics Systems they’ve begun to reduce CO2 emissions and increase fuel efficiency on the road, with a 520d recently outperforming a Toyota Prius. Their manufacturing standards reduce or eliminate water waste. And as any manufacturer should, they now take back all of their old models for recycling and disposal, no matter what condition and free of charge, thus closing the loop.

That’s only a part of their green story, but it pays to look beyond the smoke and mirrors of what we call design. Styling trends come and go, and I am still very critical of proportion, composition and details when it comes to assessing the look and feel of a thing. In all honesty, it’s often the way something looks above all else that makes us buy things. But ‘design’ is not a superfluous term. It goes far beyond “that looks cool”.

Good design needs to be socially and environmentally responsible, and, ultimately, holistic. It also requires harmony between design, engineering, marketing, and manufacturing. Style is skin deep while good design goes all the way to the soul.