WHY THE LONG FACE?
The men responsible for BMW’s audacious new design philosophy explain the rationale behind it to Piers Ward and why, despite the naysayers, that grille is here to stay
40 AUTOCAR.COM.PH OCTOBER 2021
f you’ve been anywhere near social media in the past year, you’ll know that BMW’s design has weathered a fair old storm. In the words of Adrian van Hooydonk, senior vice-president of group design at the Bavarian firm, “it can be brutal”. But if you think that’s a hint that van Hooydonk and head of BMW design Domagoj Dukec are about to change their ways, think again. The kidney grille is here to stay. The reasoning is simple: van Hooydonk and Dukec want BMW to stand out, so they’re happy to make it the distinguishing feature. They rationalise it by pointing out that it’s part of BMW’s past, so it will remain part of the future. Listening to both men talk about all aspects of BMW’s design, it’s clear that the ‘separator’ reasoning is the philosophy behind what they’re doing. Dukec justifies it with the amount of noise they’ve created: “If you want to create something
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