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According to Autoweek, legendary designer Chris Bangle, the man responsible for the much-imitated aesthetics of the BMW 7-series, is quitting the auto design industry to "pursue his own design-related endeavors."
In an interview with the man, Motor Trend mused that Bangle might be "The most influential automotive designer of the early 21st century." For those of you unfamiliar with him, here's a look at some Bangle news, opinions and accomplishments from the past few years:
Bangle on design, from Design Thinking Digest.
Chris Bangle at the TED conference, explaining that "Great cars are art:"
Bangle giving his personal overview of the BMW Design Group's exhibits at the Detroit Motor Show from '06:
Lastly, Bangle's basic bio is here.
For Bangle to quit the biz is horrible news for BMW, but may be great news for the design world at large. No word on what Bangle will be getting into yet, we'll keep you posted of developments.
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Comments
Good riddance!
Yes, he's talented and influential. Yes, his departure is bad news for BMW, because he did help them sell a lot of cars.
However, this is good news for almost everyone who actually likes BMWs for anything other than the social status they afford. I think 80% of bimmer fans would say he ruined one of the last function-over-form marques. 75 years of tradition kicked to the door in favor of tacky flame surfacing and that hideous bangle butt.
I'm sure he'll be able to draw a nice toothbrush, but I hope he stays far away from the auto industry.
Chris Bangle is very interesting. I'll be curious what will be next for him.