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Chris Bangle)
American Christopher Edward Bangle is the chief of design for the BMW Group. Born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin, Bangle attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He began his career at Opel where he designed the interior of the Junior concept car. He later moved to Fiat where he became chief designer and was credited with the design of the Fiat Coupé.
When he joined BMW in 1992, he became their first American chief of design. The 1999 Z9 concept car designed by Adrian van Hooydonk marked a departure from BMW's traditional conservative style, and his latter work has caused some controversy among BMW enthusiasts.
Design characteristics
Designs which Bangle has overseen include the 1 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 7 Series and Z4 roadster. These designs deviate from BMW's usual purely functional, rigid, straight-line forms. The 1-Series and Z4 especially have more sculpted appearances and curved lines. Among BMW fans, the consensus seems to be "love it or hate it". Bangle has coined the phrase "flame surfacing" to describe his work.
Despite the general new appearances, however, Bangle has respected several long-standing BMW traditions like the trademark twin-kidney grille, Hofmeister kink and quadruple headlights. Proponents of Bangle's designs say that the new design direction represents a move into the future for normally stolidly conservative BMWs.
Bangle is not shy about defending his designs when they are criticized. He has the backing of the BMW board of directors, which wanted to move BMW's image into the future. 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.
