Francesco Binaggia - Dimensions of Design by Francesco Binaggia

M E N S I O NS OF DE S I G FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE DESIGN

Francesco Binaggia, Vehicle design department, Inside Out World count: 7284 (excluding bibliography)

CO N T E

1. INTRODUCTION Concrete Factors 2. AMERICAN CARS AFTER 9/11 Gregory Votolato section 3. CHRIS BANGLE OPINION 4. SAFE CARS FOR REAL 5. THE HEMLINE THEORY Fashion and Car design analogy Chapter conclusion

6. MAN & COMPUTER Subjective Analysis: Citroen Cx versus Ds5 Frank Gehry’s work

7. CONCLUSIONS

IN T R O

ION

From what factors is design being determined, influenced, manipulated? Is it possible always to find a rational definition in design, also in particular in those feelings, sensations and emotions that spring up? Is there a “watershed” between systematic explanation and irrational attributes? As a vehicle design student, I work in defining proportions in automotive design, with detailed care and with a particular eye to the shape and its details. This dissertation wants to express some arguments in regards to the complexity of design in some of its particular aspects, of how design has changed during the course of time, of how designers have adapted to technologic evolution and how they have had to change their approach in the design process; or how the final product itself, designed and conceived by a man, it can be considered a product marked by emotions and moods during the design phase that have influenced the aesthetic and functional aspects then. The only methodology we use to explain creativity in rational way (and all that is around us) is mathematics, the only tangible discipline on which humans rely, referring in particular about “phi” number and its studies, the beauty of mathematical perfection and logarithmical spirals that humans find in nature and apply in art and design.

“An example of a simple curve occurring in nature is the shell of the nautilus. The mathematical expression for this shell is a logarithmic spiral, not because the nautilus is magically expert in the use of logarithms, but because the rate of growth of the shell of the nautilus object obeys physical laws that happen to generate a logarithmical spiral.” 1 Understanding the real differences between natural creations, which are spontaneous, and artificial creations, made anyway by a “spontaneous” approach, based by a particular dedicated study (rational) but also by an unconscious approach towards a natural disposition. Is commonly known the unconscious and spontaneous symmetry of objects designed by human species, derivative by an inherent need to represent things as an extension of human body; For example, the bodies of some American muscle cars of the 70's, such as Shelby 500, Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro, wanted to represent the stereotype of the “beautiful and rebellious” man, with their muscular surfaces and solid volumes that would appear indicating the masculinity of the driver, and the nose characterized by a bold and charged expression that expressed the rebellious nature of the purchaser. 1

(“Module, Symmetry, Proportion”, Gyourgy Kepes, G. Braziller, New York, 1966)

Likewise, interior design and the interior layout of artificial things (architecture, product design, automotive etc) are in most cases defined by an asymmetrical approach, almost as if there is a connection with our internal organs (like heart or part of the intestines etc). A curious example, referred to me by my professor Danilo Mandina (Ergonomics responsible in Fiat Style Centre) in my Bachelor term in Italy, is about the question of why in any tap for water (the sink, or shower, or kitchen counter) the hot water knob is always to the left side, so as that of the cold water one is to the right. His opinion was that faucet knobs are designed in that way not for a functional comfort motivation or obtained from a criterion with a designated purpose, but in a spontaneously and irrationally way, because the heart of human beings is located to the left side of the sternum, and as such the “warm part" of tapes must reside in the same side.

Can we therefore talk about rational design against subconscious design, respectively of the two parts of the hemisphere of the human brain (one more rational, the other one more spontaneous, “romantic”)? The surrounding environment and circumstances in which we live influence and manipulate our not rational instinct to design.

CONCRETE FACTORS I would like to focus my attention on some specific factors that influence design, or better, influence man, altering his vision and his instinct to design; reporting and analyzing examples on the following topics: •

Political theme (american car design after 9/11/2001)

• Economic theme (the american great depression, and birth of Streamline and “hemline drop” theory) • Technological theme (do virtual instruments, like tridimensional modellation, help or compromise the final result of a product? - Case study: Personal analysis between Citroen CX of 1971 and a current Citroen DS5 ); - a known example: Frank Gehry’s work 4

AM E R I

CA R S A F T E R 9/11

Nowadays society lives in the order of an increasingly strong political pressure, of conflicts among nations, of undisputed power of banks and current global crisis, of so-called “peacekeeping missions” (but about peace they have nothing), factors that are so incidental that have promoted everyday fears, awe, tension of an increasingly uncertain future and dictated by great powers. As a vehicle design student, i noticed that in the last 10 years the “belt window line” of cars has greatly raised, the flank is higher, windows are thinned, almost like people needed an intrinsic reassurance, a “protection” from the outside world. The peculiar thing is that this phenomenon has manifested following the attack of Word Trade Center, 11 september 2001, the most violent terrorist attack in modern history, (self-made attack to be correct, but that’s another story…). How politics and social issues can affect and determine our way to design? That event alerted people that they are vulnerable and can not be certain of being safe, it has established a more substantial global consciousness. The first american concept cars from 2002-2003, and production cars later, were the first examples a response to this phenomenon. Vehicles such as the Chrysler 300 C is one of the clearest examples of how the proportions of the car body have changed radically in the new climate of fear compared to its predecessor model, the 300M; analyzing the flank, the window glazing now visually occupies about 1/3 of the overall height of the body in side view, against the 1/2 (approximately) of its predecessor model; this new ratio gives a more robust and solid body perceptually, the language becomes "protective”, and the window "string" provides the minimum necessary external visibility at the expense of generous brightness within the passenger compartment.

Also in purely stylistic ambit, the new Chrysler language identity (as well as Cadillac, Lincoln, and other renowned american car companies) tended to communicate an aggressive, fussy, angular image, characterized by taut lines and sharp edges, clearly poles apart in respect to the "organic " feeling of volumes of those cars preceding the dawn of the new millennium, such as 300m. Obviously the most skeptical people or the most rational ones will claim that the designers could have been able to afford the "luxury" to raise the window beltline as a stylistic quirk, allowed due to the improvements of the adjustments adaptations between seat, steering wheel, backrest that offered an adequate ergonomic adaptation, aimed at a wider target. But is that all? Can we really justify a sudden radical change as a trivial possibility of realization Americans collectively show some different responses to broadly comparable fear situations than do counterparts elsewhere. Several recent studies, both before and after September 11, 2001, have highlighted the problem. The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, was unprecedented, in its technology, its range of destruction, its ability to reach well beyond its own regional sources. Fifty-two percent were strongly or some what shaken – with 33 percent reporting being frightened often of sometimes. (source American fear). A very relevant witness in this regard, a testimony of an american girl, taken from the book “American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety”, by Peter Stearns: “Even though it didn’t affect me directly it has definitely taken a toll on me and the way i live in my life”2. This statement shows that 11/9 was an event that marked indirectly American citizens’ thought and soul. Is it just an intentional and determined habit or maybe an instinctive choice, dictated by subconscious, an expressive way to “fit” in response to the environment that is changing? The example of the high window “beltline” is a phenomenon that appeared previously in some European cars contemporany with the American streamline period of 1930s and 40s: examples such as Gabriel Voisin C28 Aerosport guess of 1936 makes sense very well what I'm talking about. Streamline is a movement that has fully developed, not surprisingly, during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the first tensions and political conflicts that preceded the Second World War.

(American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety”, Peter Stearns, 2006)

Fear, anguish, terror are the key words to describe the mood of the society of that particular historical period, and are clearly highlighted by industrial objects designed under that regime of tension. Even here, it is possible to find obviously the downside, stating that, for example, the high line of the flank of the C28 is a consequence determined by the powerful engine (the C28 is in fact a sport car with high performance) and especially by its tall radiator from which it arises the whole architecture of the body high. Fear has two major consequences, derived from its primary function in readying the body for flight from danger. First, even when it does not provoke outright flight, it stimulates unusual attentiveness to the surroundings, an awareness of possible threat. Fear, in this instance, warns. But second, fear’s emotional intensity, when literal flight is not possible, can cloud rational judgment, provoking exaggerations of the perceptions of danger in ways that not only increase personal discomfort far beyond any objective necessity but also lead to an acceptance of responses that may distract from real needs or even exacerbate danger.3 So, Is it a characteristic dictated by events or by something else (technologic factor or simple fashion trend)?

Historian Gregory Votolato wrote of the SUV design which became popular stability in the 21st century “Such privileged motorists retreated inside large SUVs. In safe, salubrious neighbourhoods where the defensive function of those cars was mainly symbolic, they were disparagingly labelled Toorak Tractors (Melbourne), Chelsea Tractors (London) or Borstraktors, meaning ‘Stock Exchange Tractor’ (Oslo). Their protective image, however, generated a fashion that spread to all types of car since the 1990s with a heightened fear of terrorism, urban violence, and the increasing economic divide between rich and poor. Those scale relationships were later adopted by customizers, who used chopping and channelling to achieve a compressed roofline, hunkered down over a powerful mass below the beltline, as in Larry Erickson’s Cadzilla, custom-built by Boyd Coddington in the 1990s.”4

With this Gregory’s passage it is possible to think that proportions of Chrysler 300C (or other cars with similar stylistic features) has been influenced by design of SUVs and by their massive success, and of how SUVs have led, perhaps indirectly, the trend of "traveling shelter" on the road, detached from the outside of the metropolis; a trend which has spring typical characteristics of SUVs, as high belt lines and larger wheels, in compact and sedan vehicles.

3 4

(American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety”, Peter Stearns, 2006), (Unpublished passage, Gregory Voltolato, 2013)

Gregory also focuses his attention on a particular model, the Land Rover Evoque, that is a compact SUV, ideal to move in the city, with all the stylistic features and proportions that a SUV must have, also including a certain elegance in the interior that is particularly appreciated by female customers: “Land Rover’s Chief Designer, Gerry McGovern, amplified that aesthetic of stealth and defence for the 2011 Range Rover Evoque. Its massive substructure, with ‘power bulges’ emphasising the car’s large wheels, contrasted with the slice of blacked-out windows suggesting eye slits in a knight’s helmet, providing similarly limited visibility requiring five exterior cameras to compensate for driver blind spots. McGovern’s design recognised the car’s role as a street-wise, urban mother’s runaround, announcing, ‘Don’t mess with me!’”5

It is known that the current society lives in a climate of anxiety and fear, because of the global crisis and of a general feeling of insecurity and vulnerability, that was emphasized by some terrorist attacks in various capital cities, as the attacks in Madrid and London, respectively occurred in 2004 and 2005. Accomplice are especially strong means of communication, especially Internet, which also offers conspiracy theories on a global scale (such as the New World Order theory), that alarm and make worry the entire world population. Designers of the modern era have to offer reassuring products, safe and reliable at the sight, but with an inclined nature to trends and sales. Is it this, maybe, the case in which more than all global social consciousness and fashion “speak” exactly the same language, walking together hand in hand?

(Unpublished passage, Gregory Voltolato, 2013)

CH R I S

BA N G L

E’S O P

I N I ON

I asked for an opinion to one of the most influential car designer of contemporary times, and certainly one of the most important figures in design in its philosophical and rational side, Chris Bangle, and I asked him his critical point of view: “Of course all design is contextual. That is what "designing for the times we are living in" is all about, and the marketing/consumer aspect of cars is what separates them from architecture, art, and other expressive mediums. No designer can ignore the climate in which he/she works, but it is not as though car designers sat around wringing their hands after 9/11 trying to put a social mood into a beltline.”6 However, I specific that my personal vision about the consequential relationship between Sept. 11 and, specifically, the window belt line (and the sharp look) is just a hypothesis almost possible, but one of many; My intention is to emphasize a variant, a my personal one, that might suggest, not a single answer, or at least, not the only explanation to those stylistic and formal characteristics. Bangle still specifies that, however: “Designers seek difference within the mainstream, people buy what is offered, and the sampling of diversity in cars is way too small––especially at the "lead" upper end of the premium brand offerings that tend to set the pace to draw any sort of statistical conclusions about cause and effect.” Recall also that given the development lag-time, any design and more importantly its "architectural package" sold in 2002 was set in stone in 1999 at the latest; that would put a significant change driven by 9/11 at 2004 earliest +/-.7 So, it’s clearly that factors such as the radical evolution of car packaging (platform, layout of the space, chassis) of those years is one of the factors, like many others, which added together, resulted in the elevation of the window belt line.

As in the 1930s, economic and cultural factors ramped up public anxiety leading up to the terror of Blitzkrieg and 9/11. Every age has its trends, its fashions, its currents, which should not be underestimated in the design process, and the evolution of specific regulations to be observed that the "mark" the bodywork.

6-7

(e-mail from Chris Bangle, 2013)

Again Bangle states:

“As a car design manager working in those times, I know there were other factors moving things that way: a trend towards the "chopped" or "smashed" look of Hot Rods that Chrysler started in the US late 90's and prompted the retro movement in Europe (the Merc CLS was later famous for "inventing" the simulated "chopped" look by raising the beltline instead of lowering the roof) and more importantly, the evolution of A-pillar/roof-rails to larger and larger cross sections to accommodate crash structure and airbags––less of an issue in the pre-2001 era. Aero X-section and veh. dynamics limits heights, so most of those changes went into reducing the glass area. Glass is also notoriously difficult to handle acoustically, heat-load, stress, weight, etc, so engineers tend to push towards smaller glass when possible.”8 So he points out that reducing of the glass surely means to have a more comfortable interior; that therefore it is a well calculated design choice, with all the resulting benefits for the final user. A car which is currently available in the market that comes to mind in this regard is the Alfa Romeo Mito, which its lateral glazing, whit a very enhanced design, is definied by its designers Paolo Granelli and Juan Manuel Diaz as a “shape of a eye”, to emphasize its tapering and its dynamic feeling. But are we sure that that it is not only a solution aimed to communicate to the young customers a more sporty look , emphasizing the muscles of the body, at the expense of a study to eliminate the noise and the heat-load? In fact the design themes of Alfa Mito are admittedly inspired by the 8c model, a sporting high-end jewel in limited series.

My personal opinion is, came on board a couple of times in that car, that visibility is really occlusive; the window belt-line, especially in the rear seats, is very high, and it makes the travel experience as if you were admiring the scenery from a porthole. In my opinion, that is an unsuitable characteristic for a “compact” car, belonging to the B segment (referring to the automotive size classification scale). It was really worth it? In the words of my professor of ergonomics Danilo Mandina (mentioned previously in the preface), the skill for the success of a project is that it need always find the most fair and balanced compromise, in the case of Alfa Mito between sportiness, visibility, comfort, which varies depending on the specific target, of its pleasantness request, of the budget of the project.

(e-mail from Chris Bangle, 2013)

Bangle also pointed that: Some of Giugaro's 90's work shows the move towards thicker pillars and more attention to body flanks––mostly for aero back then––which helped set the stage. Faster C-Pillars with a more coupelike look to sedans was also a driver; the glass lines need to drop sooner- and since they peak at the B-Pillar the lower at that point it is the better.9 Regarding chunkier interior design, he added: Even interiors played a role; in particular the IP (dashboard) got really pumped up at the same time with bigger AC, side air outlets, padding and airbags––even cupholders––and this led to a discrepancy between the runout of the IP into the door shoulders. To hide that the exterior designers moved the belts up as well, also driven by the fact the rocker X-section below the door itself was getting dramatically bigger at the same time (crash, aero) and that pushed up the bottoms of the doors that pushed up the bottoms of the side glass drop-envelope and that argued for smaller side glass as well….etc, etc.10

It is the evolution of man, in particular of the purchaser, which, between the 80’s and 2000, is immersed in a continuous technological evolution which increases its quality expectations, requiring more improvements from vehicles of new generations than their predecessor models. It is the evolution of the product that proceeds “in tandem” with the needs expressed by the customer, who from generation to generation tends to a request for continuous improvements, in the period of the absolute consumerism of the 90s, and then to stabilize its demands during the following period of the contemporary world crisis. Quoting Norman Bel Geddes’ words “never before in an economic crisis, has there been such an aroused consciousness on the part of the community at large and within industry itself”11 it clearly show how period of the Great Depression had a strong impact on American design in general.

Infact, after the onset of the Great depression, criticts, curators, and designers themselves turned and increasingly critical eye to design from the late 1920s that had not embraced the efficiency of industrial manufacture.

9-10

(e-mail from Chris Bangle, 2013) (“Horizons”, Norman Bel Geddes, Books for Libraries Press, 1932)

Quoting “Livable Modernism”, “when the Metropolitan Museum sponsored a major exhibition of modernist American design in 1934, the Depression-induced sobriety of many objects prompted comparisons with the 1929 show that echoed these themes; rooms and furnishings reflected the

opulence of the times then reaching a climax and a mood for luxurious accents rather than for usability”.12 NOTHING IS A SIMPLE FASHION, EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A GOOD REASON

“the observation concerning peoples need for secure feelings has merit to at least explore, and certainly cant be denied as a phenomena of the angst of out times.”13 Relying on human needs, essentially in terms of ergonomics (accessibility, pleasantness, sense of comfort), how designers can be influenced by trends or contextual sensations during the design process? I found very interesting the following Bangle’s opinion in which he speaks about that points of the lines of any BMW are always a "mathematics” motivation, because they depend from H point (Human point), the fundamental point for ergonomics and packaging, cornerstone at the base of the design of land vehicles, but also how arithmetic thought can meet the needs of customers:

Bangle: We once made a model that could be physically "evolved" (it got bigger electromechanically") to evidence the changes from the BMW 2002 and the E-46 of the mid90s…amazing; of course beltlines had been going up substantially even by then. (We let people move the beltlines and hoods and roofs and headers around until they were comfortable with how the environment felt and took measurements––that actually influenced the E46 in some ways.14

To me the most interesting part of the exercise back then was the discovery that the centerline of every single BMW since the 70's passed through a single point relative to the H-point in the headerroof area. At least one point was a "fixed" starting point for design! (14)

Human comfort, the pleasantness and above all, the needs, that are increasingly spurious, determine the design, especially if the vehicle is reserved for a vaste target, or rather the generic population.

( “Livable Modernism”, Kristina Wilson, Yale University Press, 2004) (e-mail from Chris Bangle, 2013)

13-14

SA F E

CA R S F OR

R E AL

Major World leaders’s vehicles, from presidents to queens, and all the important terrestrial authorities, are not common cars, but they want to look like them at all costs; they are camouflaged as normal cars, but in reality under their bodywork, under their "skin "are real and proper traveling tanks, equipped with the most advanced equipments and a structures derived from the latest technologies developed by sophisticated studies in aeronautics and space industry. President Obama’s vehicle, for example, known as "the Beast", is masquerading as a Cadillac limousine but Its chassis, diesel engine and transmission are based on those used in the Kodiak, a rugged commercial vehicle used as everything from a dump truck to a U-Haul truck.15 There is probably not a better-armored vehicle with windows on the planet than The Beast. Its characteristics define it as a real and proper “bunker” on four-wheel drive, features all the equipment required to survival, even in a possible doomsday scenario .. Its body, or we can define it “armor” is 8 inches thick, and its doors weigh have the same weight as those of a Boeing 757 aircraft. As already mentioned, we're not talking about an “able-bodied” car. Windows are Five-inch thick and they contain at least five different layers of sturdy materials; Tyres are gigantic (nearly to a coach bus size ones) and they are Kevlar-reinforced, run-flat system to continue gait even in case of serious punctures. The interior is sealed off from the outside world to reduce risks of a chemical attack, while a special foam surrounds the fuel tank to insulate it in the event of an impact…

It's exceedingly well-equipped. Inside the trunk there are required objects for survival, including firefighting equipment, oxygen tanks and even a cache of the president's blood type, and defense army, as tear gas canisters,

shotguns and grenade launchers; “the Secret Service has learned a lot since President John F. Kennedy's open-top Lincoln Continental was fired upon on Elm Street in Dallas.”16

15-16

(Source from “The Beast: 10 Things to Know About the President's Limo”, Andrew Ganz)

This car is sure to be real, it really protects and makes feel safer for its characteristics, and also of course for its appearance derived from the off-road chassis, but it is made to be in this specific way,

it is safe in a rational design for an intentional purpose, without cravings appearance, but on the contrary, to conceal its true nature, uncontaminated by aspects such as fads or trends.

Here as never style is functional, or rather it has the function to “mask” the true function of the project, to do not show to pedestrians its true nature of the monstrous vehicle, so in this case the pure essence of the design is covered by the style itself. Even this, though unusual, is car design, where function and style meet, even with “opposite charges”.

TH E HE M L I

E T

H E O RY

Urban legend has it that the hemline is correlated with the economy. In times of decline, the hemline moves towards the floor (decreases), and when the economy is booming, skirts get shorter and the hemline increases.

In 1926 an economist called George Taylor introduced a “theory” that is called the hemline index. This theory says that hemlines on women’s dresses fluctuate with the economy, measured by stock prices or gross domestic product. When the economy is flourishing, hemlines increase, meaning one would see more miniskirts, and when the economic situation is deteriorating the hemlines drop, perhaps even to the floor. The length of women’s skirts tells the way the market is going to go, according to the so-called “hemline theory”. The Hemline Theory worked best in the 20th Century when the fashion system was most uniform and there was little diversity of style. In the ‘20s and ‘60s hemlines were at a high and so was the stock market. And in the ‘30s and ‘40s the stock market was so low that women were almost tripping on their skirts. The hemline theory was also on the ball in 1987. Miniskirts were all the rage, and the stock market was at a matching high. But then the market quickly crashed in October, right

when designers such as Bill Blass decided that miniskirts looked ridiculous. Hemlines dropped and so did the market. 17 Is it a coincidence?

Right now the trend is supershort skirts and stiletto heels. Could this be telling us something about the market ahead?

At least since the 1920s, market watchers have debated the merits of “hemline theory,” the idea that shorter skirts point toward economic booms and longer ones indicating slumps. The most complete recent study of hemlines and the economy is by Marjolein van Baardwijk and Philip Hans Franses of the Econometric Institute Erasmus School of Economics. They examine monthly data on hemlinesfrom 1921 to 2009. Franses and Baardwijk couldn’t find any evidence that hemlines predict economic performance, but they did find that economics predicts hemlines with a three-year to four-year delay. Which is to say, about three years after the economy goes into a recession, hemlines plunge toward the ankle. FASHION AND CAR DESIGN ANALOGY

Source from (“Hemlines Are Plunging, Is Economy Next?” John Carney, http://www.cnbc.com)

Car is often approached, especially by women, as a fashionable accessory, instead as a true mean of mobility; not coincidentally some car manufacturers have produced some exclusive models in partnership with some famous fashion companies, such as Citroen C3 D&G, Citroen C3 Pinko, Fiat 500 by Gucci, or the countless chic versions of the Lancia Ypsilon, with many customization options, including interior fabrics or chrome inserts for the exterior body, in order to match the right “look” of the vehicle to the shopping clothing.

With these affinities between cars and fashion, therefore we can not exclude at all a similar analogy between the stylistic features that characterize the automobile and trends of the market, as already occurred with the hemline theory.

In addition to the already mentioned raising of window beltline, it has been noted in recent years a size increase of wheels, rims and wheel arches, an enlargement of the "graphic" features, as the headlights and air vents, and the ownsizing of front and rear overhangs.

It is absolutely interesting to think that the hemline theory may usher new hypotheses on market trends, also regarding to the automotive design characteristics, with varying of proportions of the elements during the time.

CHAPTER CONCLUSION Surely then, the consequences on the economic side, the way in which designers, architects and stylists reflect a particular and determined climatic and historical context, can affect some various areas, and certainly it’s an aspect that should not be underestimated but indeed, in some cases, it may be a helpful and communicative trend, a sort of mirror that reflects mood and behaviour of a society that, without their "fruits" (products) maybe it not would be aware.

The translation of the cultural context in design products can be a "visual alarm bell" to wake up and to take over the reins in people’s hands, it can be for sure an incentive to revolutionize, change, improve, evolve.

MA N

& C

P U T ER

Do computers softwares improve or “disfigure”, alter our creativity and discipline?

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS Leafing through some Auto & design magazines of twenty or thirty years ago, i thought clearly from the beginning that the approach that man, car designer in the matter in question, has towards the creation of a form, a silhouette and volumes of car in the matter in question, has considerably changed in our days, evolved only partially, almost "altered" by the use of new computer programs CAD or new prototyping machines. From the conceptual brief derive the initial sketches and the first figures, then translate that expression thrown on paper in a tridimentional manual shape, cartesian*, planned and willed from the first pencil stroke. Current programs for 3D modeling like Alias, Rhino, or Maya certainly reduce the timing of work, but they are tools that change the way of thinking, with their pros and cons. I will explain better describing the lines of two generations at distance of the same car company, two E segments manufactured by Citroen that are thirty years distant one from each other. I state that this analysis is the result of a discussion between me and Nicolò Azzara, Senior designer in Fioravanti, during my internship time in that company.

To be fair, the CX is an E segment (flagship car), but the DS5 was born as a midsize sedan, then is a lower segment, that is D, but the size between the two cars are almost the same; this phenomenon has happened thanks to the upgrading categorie of vehicles, resulting to an increasing need for drivers’ well-being and to an unconscious desire to improve the product in terms of comfort and space.

Citroen Cx 1974 The side, in elevation view, shows two “construction theoretical lines” that are absolutely generated by the encounter of two surfaces, the shouder and the flank; it is therefore a trait that is consequential to the volume, to the designed shape; it’s a result of an orthogonal thought**, not graphic. All architecture lines form a structural harmony and determine the dynamics.

There is no ornament, it is the car architecture itself that becomes style, not vice versa, and it is expressed with its proportions, its balances, its concavities.

Citroen Ds5 2011 The feature lines of bodywork here are “post volume” (or rather lines added after the volume is defined), a visual adjunct to the flank, not an essential ingredient to delineate it. Theorerical lines*** (if they can still be called in this way) are a decoration, essentially pure style, fine esthetically an end in themselves, almost designers wanted to indulge the potential use of cad programs by a easy click mouse.

I believe that a car like DS5 (or many others present in the current market) with its styles could never be conceived mentally by a designer devoid of actual technologies, who, forced to satisfy the trends of a market that is increasingly leaning to aesthetics factor, where the public prefer to buy for showiness and ostentation of social status, has in his hands a sort of technologic “facilitation” that simplifies the task of empty novelty, without a concrete structure, always more frivolous and less rational.

Short technical glossary, where I explain with my words some technical definition that i used in my passage *Cartesian: something that is mathematical, rational. **Orthogonal thought: it refers to a thought resulting from a right ratio between lines that are not instinctive, but well calculated according to the plans of the form, the packaging, the chassis, the shape of the cockpit, the harmony of space. ***Theoretical line: a line that is generated by the encounter of two surfaces. Therefore, a theoretical line is never "designed", but it is created spontaneously by the intersection of two different surfaces. The opposite is the graphic line, which is drawn on the volume, on the surfaces; Graphic lines are for example those that constitute headlights.

WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS A SOURCE OF PRIDE, AND A KEY TO DIVERSITY Analysis of Frank Gehry’s work So, technology, affects or not our way to conceive, however it was determinant for historical context in which it was find, and in some cases, decisive and essential for a stylistic imprint of a specific movement, or of a respective designer. It 's the case of the architect Frank Gehry and the deconstruction of his works, from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Guggehneim museum in Bilbao, every project is achieved thanks to 3D modeling.

In the preface of Flying carpets, Antonino Saggio wrote a very representative opinion of Gehry’s vision: “Gehry brings together a sculptural force, a sense of shifting, sagge space, an aesthetic that reflects the turbulent evolution of society. These projects are built out of incessant experimentation with widely different materials; they encounter their spaces in a provocative and courageous manner; they present a shattering expressivity, fluid and dynamic; and finally, they communicate with the powers that finance, promote, and build the works. The many pragmatic facets of the task of designing move within the synthesis of architecture as art and not viceversa.”18 18

(“Flying carpets”, preface by Antonino Saggio, Birkhäuser, 2001)

I believe that in this brief description is summarized Gehry’s vision that constitute his entire work. “Naturally, there can be infinite new three-dimensional visions; new diagrams and sections can be drawn-up; every aspect of the entire project can be studied contemporaneously in minute detail. But an electronic model is by its nature something extremely different with respect to a traditional model since it is a living, interacting (and in certain aspects ”intelligent”) whole.”19 I’m entirely agree with this statement by Antonino Saggio; During my first work experience in Linea Gam, a design center based in Collegno (Turin, Italy), where I worked for my first time to the realization of a physical model in 1:1 scale of a vehicle, I noticed that the shape, that is initially calculated and “built” using 3d virtual softwares (for the precision Autodesk Alias), it could give a completely different impression in its real scale. The shape, that has been entirely designed seeing it “inside a screen” of a computer, once milled it creates a real direct impact with human natural senses (primarily sight and touch), without any "electronic" filters (like a screen for the sight, or a mouse for the touch), between man and the substance. Even if I can not define if the physical result was better or worse than the digital one, for sure I can admit that the impressions conveyed by the full scale model (in plaster) made me show the model in

a “different light”, in terms of sensations, that are abstract and thay can not be totally explained in words, or in mathematical numbers of virtual modeling.

Technologies change the creative process, and even, they reverse it completely. Bruce Lindsley in his book “Digital Gehry” expresses some conceptually important points. The first is one he defines as Skin In, If the modernist process begins to form the structural grid toward the outside, Gehry’s process is the opposite: from the shape of the skin and therefore the exterior surface, he passes to the secondary plans and structure and then to the shaping of the spaces. Consider the consequences of this approach. Does this “skin in” process bring with it a radically different method with respect to the “industrial” and “modernist” approach? The answer is yes. The “skin in” approach is linked to a paradigmatic change in architecture as a whole. “We are accustomed to representing architecture that is already built. To designing the pyramids or a Renaissance palace to put back on paper something we know as a real object already existing in space. But we have ever asked ourselves the reverse? In other words, what extent a real object might “resemble” the method that its contemporaries had of representing it? Perhaps this question would reveal the fact that is knowledge itself that is “represented” in the architectural object. The basic rules of trigonometry are illustrated in the pyramids; a calculation based on geometry is at the basis of the Pantheon; the loss of geometrical-arithmetical ability is evident in the cavernous and unsteady interior of a Romanesque church; without the lines and rules of perspective there would be no “ordered” Renaissance palace, and without the circles of a compass, the curves of San Carlino or Sant’Ivo would never have taken shape.”20

Then it is evident that, if we “also” consider the tool, we get a clue to understanding how certain senses of space were born. Bruce Lindsley try to ask a question: 19 20

(“Flying carpets”, preface by Antonino Saggio, Birkhäuser, 2001) (“Digital Gehry”, Bruce Lindsey, Birkhäuser, 2001)

“What if our architecture were to resemble even more the potential of our computerized models?” In more recent projects it can be seen that Gehry’s architecture resembles his sketches more and more than in his earlier projects. But the electronic model is still something more, it “grasps” the possibility of an intelligence, a mutation, a change much greater than that of interpreting, even though brilliantly, the symbols and dreams of a genius. So, I think that current technology tools contribute to improve ideas during the creation process and "help" the designers to realize their thoughts in a complete way, but at the same time, they may affect designers’ creative process. Leafing the book “Gehry’s draws”, it is easy understand that his drawings have no doubt been influenced by the degree of freedom that the computer has allowed. Infact, knowing that complexity can be tamed using the geometry engine of CATIA, Gehry has extended the gestural qualities of his drawings, that are more expressive and instinctive than other ones from architects that still don’t use a complete 3d virtual modeling process. This fact makes reflect sobering on an increasingly strong interaction between man and technology, in which virtual instruments are not defined as something detached, “cold”, complex, but they are increasingly being approached to a positive, synergistic and vitality image with the designers. A symbiosis that in the future will be certainly strengthen.

Guggenheim Museum: when the creativity of the forms becomes spectacular function

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is perhaps the most famous and recognized of Gehry’s work, in it are present all the characteristics of his archictect in terms of materials, overlapping sourfaces, characteristic light reflections. The museum has become a huge attraction for enthusiasts and the curious, so that people end up being more interested in the "container" than the content , and this is the most frequent criticism that is made to Gehry’s achievements, considered by some people too aesthetic , too self-complacent, too outward, that overlooking function of the building itself towards a pure decorative and emotional form. Will we ever thought to conceiving a museum in that way, characterizing the stylistic and attractiveness function of the “involucre”, by failing to provide virtual 3d softwares? The answer is no:

“The nature of designing has changed since computers began to used in the process of conceptualization and representation of the design development” 21

Therefore Catia technology can “denaturalize” man's thought, making it artificial and leading him on a way in which he never could go without technology, but at the same technology may inaugurate new prospects of thought and especially of creative process, projecting society in a path of radical evolution that is in the design roots, and therefore, in the output of finished product. The technological impact has then marked and totally reversed the way of thinking.

My personal conclusion is that all Gehry’s buildings could never have been thought in an antecedent period compared to its one, just because tridimensional virtual modeling did not exist. Gehry's cleverness is indisputable, but maybe is it more honest to admit that his works may also be partly attributable to the Cad technology? Nowadays technology in automotive design contributes a lot to the creation of three-dimensional shape, reducing expenses and working hours. But, today, it still required the “human touch” in the surfaces refinement, to obtain a product of high quality modeling.

From the drawing board, through the CAD, should we in a near future scenario expect a new technological process, which, perhaps, it can totally operate without men, or of designers, workers, modelers?

(“Digital design”, Dean Bruton and Antony Radford, Bloomsbury Academic, 2012)

CO N C L

Man is driven by the need to communicate their emotions, feelings, stimulus indirectly, and adapt them over time and space in which he lives, with all the circumstances, positive or negative ones. Thus proportions certainly derived from an accurate and well-detailed study, or in the same way are they dictated by our being innate, our time, the relevant facts? Is what we create never controllable 100%, even if we would like it to be? The aesthetic, as determined by the proportions between the elements that make up an object, is not an end in itself; the ratio between the sizes that defines the external look of a product, is influenced by human soul, by marketing, by new technological processes, creating a unity, an organic whole, that is called society, in which are expressed its values, trends, moods, social status; “things” that are “fixed” forever in time and space by designers and their objects.

Quoting “The poetics of space”: “faced with the bestial hostility of the storm and the hurricane, the house’s virtues of protection and resistance are transposed into human virtues. The house acquires the physical and moral energy of a human body.”22 I found very interesting Gaston Bachelard's vision about poetics of space, contexts, about things that surround the man, that convey him into a macro system that creates the environment, the atmosphere, the context, in a subliminal, psychological and rarefied form, made up of sensations and instincts of which only the man is provided: the perception. The same applies for a journey by car, in a comfortable flagship vehicle;

the memory of a trip, with its on-board spaces, its smells, its light intensity, its external sounds ... all those elements that characterize a sensory experience, intimate and personal one. The spirit of objects, their nature, can influence us, characterize us; they can impress their personality on our being, on our being of purchaser, and also they can be element of affection by us. 22

(“The Poetics of space”, Gaston Bachelard, Beacon Press, 1964)

The obsession of geometry, golden ratio in which designers seek, the perfect form that is consistently exceeded, the journey from mind to soul is a spiritual path in some ways, but that responds to some sensations, which are in the nature of man. I think that until the objects are developed by man, with all its human characteristics, as defects, feelings, adaptation, there will always be a halo of mystery behind it.

Francesco Binaggia

BI B L I

BOOKS

“Module, Symmetry, Proportion”, Gyourgy Kepes, G. Braziller, New York, 1966 “Muscle Car Milestones”, Dan Lyons, Jason Scott, MotorBooks International, 2001 “American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety”, Peter Stearns, 2006 “Unpublished passage”, Gregory Voltolato, 2013 “American Streamlined Design, The world of tomorrow”, David A. Hanks, Flammarion, 2005 “The Suitability Of Offroad Vehicles For Urban Environments”, Peter Wells, Cardiff, 2006 “The Streamline Decade”, Donald J.Bush, George Braziller, 1975 “Horizons”, Norman Bel Geddes, Books for Libraries Press, 1932 “Livable Modernism”, Kristina Wilson, Yale University Press, 2004 “Flying carpets”, Antonino Saggio, Birkhäuser, 2001 “Digital Gehry”, Bruce Lindsey, Birkhäuser, 2001 “Digital design”, Dean Bruton and Antony Radford, Bloomsbury Academic, 2012 “The Poetics of space”, Gaston Bachelard, Beacon Press, 1964 “Gehry Draws”, Mark Rappolt, Robert Violette, Frank Gehry, The MIT Press, 2004

WEBSITES

“The Beast: 10 Things to Know About the President's Limo”, Andrew Ganz, www.leftlanenews.com “The hemline and the economy: is there any match?” Marjolein van Baardwijk ,Philip Hans Franses, Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics ) “What is the Hemline Theory telling us about stock markets?” Prieur du Plessis, 2008, /www.investmentpostcards.com/

“Hemlines Are Plunging, Is Economy Next?” By John Carney, http://www.cnbc.com “Lecture about Gehry”, Mohammed Afana http://mafana.wordpress.com) 25

“Alfa Romeo MiTo Design”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmtBEe1zxIQ

EMAIL Chris Bangle Opinion

IMAGES (in narrative order) Collage1: Geometry of Design cover front: -http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347326495l/11363705.jpg -http://badassideas.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/geometry-of-a-beetle.jpg -http://www.geometrie.tuwien.ac.at/ig/images/lag1.jpg Collage2: -http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/456251/the-grown-up-sports-car-photo-456287-s-429x262.jpg -http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/11900000/Rebel-Without-a-Cause-rebel-without-a-cause-11965484-760536.jpg -http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fFHRNFtw9IQ/UQTbMEA6K-I/AAAAAAACX50/BWF9r3qr9Ho/s1600/ttmag1ja.jpg Collage3: -http://steveroesler.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c500653ef016305ae4ba7970d-800wi -http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/var/plain_site/storage/images/publications/food-beveragenutrition/nutraingredients-usa.com/consumer-trends/heart-health-tops-health-concerns-for-35-65-year-oldssurvey/7709130-1-eng-GB/Heart-health-tops-health-concerns-for-35-65-year-olds-Survey_medium_vga.jpg -http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ztDEyDSH9Dg/TOWhjaX-3cI/AAAAAAAAAhU/Q2AWccDSUdM/s1600/Ergonomics-RealDesign-photographer-Luke-Hayes-big.jpg Collage4: -http://www.netcarshow.com/chrysler/2003-300m/1280x960/wallpaper_02.htm -http://www.netcarshow.com/chrysler/2003-300c_concept/1280x960/wallpaper_0c.htm -http://mediablog.vanityfair.it/files/2011/11/torri-gemelle.jpg -http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NCTKUEHu-jQ/RzstSPIjqpI/AAAAAAAAETg/Monv9BOJmOQ/Voisin+C28+Aerosport+Coupe.jpg

Collage5: -http://thedesignoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/american-fear-front-cover.jpg Dorothea Langes “Migrant Mother”: -http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_free_images/0478-0610-2418-4203_dorothea_langes_migrant_mother_o.jpg Margaret Bourke “White American Way”: http://www.google.it/imgres?imgurl=http://www.topnews.ru/upload/photo/8fefd0c0/fb48f.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.topne ws.ru/photo_id_6061.html&h=363&w=500&sz=36&tbnid=HLxD_NwCzN5OnM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=124&zoom=1&usg=__x 4aD0BNnVMjYBET78BoSh0B-4Kc=&docid=0Ijk8mKW_hGp_M&hl=it&sa=X&ei=zr9IUsbsGmM4ASD5YDIAQ&ved=0CEEQ9QEwAg Collage6: http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/episode/b038yl1j_640_360.jpg http://www.freehdwall.com/2012/04/land-rover-range-rover-city-photo-hd.html http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/jimmyschev/cadzzilla-zz-top-boyd-c-1.jpg Collage7: http://www.wallpapersdown.biz/wallpapers/2013/05/2011-Range-Rover-Evoque-White-1600x2560.jpg http://goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/111/000007509/7396_orh220w334/mum-and-daughter-shopping.jpg Collage8: http://cdn.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Chris-Bangle.jpg http://s985.photobucket.com/user/Autoxotic/media/chris_bangle_02_2_zpsb73c579b.jpg.html http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/image.php?u=111164&type=sigpic&dateline=1234322022 Collage9:

frame from the video -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmtBEe1zxIQ

-http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K6MERTIDBtg/UezcvX1TclI/AAAAAAAAOzs/Yrf2X7kqJLM/s1600/Alfa-Romeo-Mito-9.jpg Collage10: -http://2.bp.blogspot.com/PczJvbE_Z98/UET61VylTqI/AAAAAAAAIdY/_PPDuGhFtR4/s1600/tumblr_m561heQXhk1qa4gsro1_1280.jpg

-http://www.autonomics-consulting.co.uk/ESW/Images/Rampsis_2.jpg -http://hutchinsonsimulators.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/overlaid_package.jpg?w=800 Collage11 -http://www.netcarshow.com/bmw/1968-2002/ -http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot/cars/bmwcars/bmw-2002.gif Collage12 -http://4.bp.blogspot.com/lOJsC15GQRE/UR8LbxX6WzI/AAAAAAAACJs/WEHvarIZN1Y/s1600/_52946281_obama_car_624.gif -http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/2006-kodiak_c4500/ Collage13 -http://static.stylosophy.it/stwww/fotogallery/625X0/11832/fatima-lopes.jpg -http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/05/markets/indicators/indicator_skirts.gif -http://whyoffashion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Screen-Shot-2013-08-09-at-7.42.37-AM.png Collage14 -http://www.autoblog.gr/wp-content/gallery/fiat-500-by-gucci/fiat-500-by-gucci-7.jpg -http://fashionbride.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/giorgio-armani-prive-w08-5a.jpg -http://static.feber.se/article_images/19/56/91/195691.jpg -http://1.bp.blogspot.com/5Yoa47An9cM/T48HgA_nrRI/AAAAAAAAAbU/oHwnWMaXiCI/s1600/marketingEnvironment.jpg Collage 15 -http://www.vivemasvivesmejor.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/32134738.jpg -http://customer.dassaultfalcon.com/content/imagecontent.jsp?DESCRIPTION=62 -http://www.deelip.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/184.jpg Collage16 -http://www.autoblog.it/post/53341/rubrica-amarcord-citroen-cx -http://www.netcarshow.com/citroen/2012-ds5/ -http://www.solidcad.hu/Design3D/Blueprint_Osszesitve/Citroen/CX/citroen_cx.jpg Collage 17 -http://www.4shared.com/office/cGIxLnBn/AAA_Frank_Gehrys_High-Tech_Sec.html -http://www.redazionesmartlocalnews.it/File/immaginiArticoli/id174.jpg -http://www.zdlaw.com/images/enews/gehry-02.jpg

Collage 18 -http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DOyuz7-1s1w/RewBhNpvXpI/AAAAAAAAADE/EokyScJK_Vg/s320/18.jpg -http://designbuildpro.info/wp-content/uploads/Frank-Gehry-sketches-1024x493.jpg Guggenheim Museum: -http://i54.tinypic.com/25z72u9.jpg Collage19 -http://art-society.de/society/files/art-society-network.jpg Joni James “Human Mind”: -http://www.etsy.com/listing/62276288/psychology-art-word-art-typography -http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/082/f/9/head_perspective_by_kungfuspartan-d5z2dcy.jpg