BMW GINA Concept
BMW has just unveiled their latest concept called GINA Light Visionary – GINA being an acronym for their design philosophy behind: Geometry and Functions In ‘N’ Adaptations (I suppose GINA sounds cooler than GIFNA?). At my first glance, I thought it was not too radical – the initial impression was a concept that was probably a sportier extension of the Mille Miglia concept unveiled back in 2006.
But after going through the video (in Youtube above), I realized it was a rather radical and refreshing perspective of automotive design – this may yet be a watershed in automotive styling. BMW has always been experts in dealing with expressive surfaces (that are often sharply ‘clipped’), with one of their master strokes being the iconic negative curvature found along the sides of many of its sportier cars. But I think in GINA they re-thought the whole tradition of car body designs.
In typical automotive designs, you have a certain structure on which you add metallic panels on. You can style these panels in as many ways as there are cars on market now – but they are generally all seen as panels. The associated possible actions are linked to traditional metal sheet forming technologies – bending, rolling, cutting, etc., as the automotive designers think of themselves as sculptors, adding or coring away extra ‘clay’.
In GINA, instead of hard panels, the body is conceived more like a soft skin wrapping against a skeleton body. While it may very well be made of metal panels eventually just like any other cars, the important thing is at the design level, the ‘skin’ metaphor brings out a whole set of different analogies and thus designs – you’re thinking about creases, pinching, pricking, etc. Design is thus by growing and subtracting the inner skeleton (which then defines the creases). I particularly liked the quote by Chris Bangle in the video: “…let’s let material talk in a different manner; and let the tooling be a different issue, instead of just a way to give us form.“
There are some other interesting features enabled by such a skin too: for example, there can be a continuous line on the sides, with the door creasing and folding away rather than opening/lifting. It could also consume less resources to build and drive, since the fabric would probably be lighter and require less manufacturing energy. Imagine also the possibility of changing the profile of your car exterior at a whim – in a fabric concept, it may be as simple as pressing a knob to rotate or shift the underlying skeleton.
It reminds me of Gehry’s Guggenheim too – which was for architecture another conceptual breakthrough: where technology has grown to such sophistication that we can in fact produce a building not by ‘ground-up’, ‘level-by-level’ structure which is then clad by facade. Instead, the building was defined much by its skin itself, its transformations and its refreshing organic lines.
In a way, I also felt it made the car more organic – it’s almost like a silent…monster. As it lifts it eyelid, the head lamps project its vision menacingly ahead; the unveiling of the bonnet reminds me of open-heart surgery; makes me think about Toyota’s ‘Human Touch’ ad too (haha both are somewhat creepy).
Overall, I must say this is one of the most refreshing and innovative concept cars that I’ve come across these years. There are many concept cars that are wild, interesting, etc. but I thought the GINA managed to tackle car design in a whole new perspective, while inheriting the qualities that make it a BMW.
Bravo to the design team!
(And if you’re the essay type, here’s their philosophy (wall-of-text!))
Auto/ Designer accuses BMW: they copied me. The Public Prosecutor’s office in Rome is investigating
28-02-2009 11:52
“The ‘Gina’ concept car covering was patent protected ”
Rome, 28 Feb. (Apcom) – The ‘Gina’ BMW is a prize-winning concept car, but the idea of using a fabric covering for the bodywork is now said to have been copied from an Italian. This is the subject of the lawsuit initiated by fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco, owner of a number of young fashion labels, and filed with the Rome Public Prosecutor a few days ago. Public Prosecutor Marcello Monteleone is believed to be assessing the case presented by lawyer Carlo Cirillo, which contains allegations of counterfeiting under articles 473 and 474 of the penal code and under the provisions of the so-called ‘industrial property code’, as defined in the law of 10 February 2005, number 30, article 127.
Specifically, according to the lawsuit, Bianco designed an exclusive procedure in 2005 by which any covering material, from leather to fabric to more technical materials, could be applied to the external body of cars and other motor vehicles, “making the covering impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents”. After registration of the patent, exhibition at the 2006 Bologna Motor show, and coverage on the Tg5 Italian TV channel, Bianco was confident, happy in the knowledge that he had invented something innovative. Then, in the middle of 2008 he discovered that BMW had presented a concept car with a fabric body: the Gina, acronym for ‘Geometry and functions in ‘n’ adaptions’. So Bianco felt that there was nothing for it but to assert his rights.
The battle between this small inventor from Italy and the German colossus began last August, when lawyer Carlo Cirillo informed the legal offices of BMW that his client was the “owner of the rights following the filing of a formal application to register the patent for a fabric covering for motor vehicles” and warning the German company to “cease any activity in conflict with this”. After further contacts between lawyer Carlo Cirillo and the legal consultants from BMW’s patents office, and despite all the documentation presented in support of Bianco’s case, the Gina was exhibited at the museum in Munich and from 11 to 15 February of last year at the Salon Concept Car Hotel National des Invalides Plauce Vebaun, in Paris.
As reported in the newspapers, at that event in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, the Gina won the award of ‘Grand prix du plus beau concept car de l’annèe 2008′. But Bianco was not willing to let matters lie. He made a video with his accusations and posted it on Youtube. The process involved in this work on the car and the application of the materials, as shown on the carbodydesign website, source BMW press office, is exactly the same as the one he designed. In his lawsuit, the designer also refers to a visit by a BMW manager to his stand at the Motorshow. Lawyers Carlo Cirillo and Pamela Baglivo, who presented his case with the collaboration of lawyer Micol Cupo Pagano, explain: “Our client hopes that this will throw light on the matter.”
Lawyer Carlo Cirillo adds: “It is clear that if the judicial authorities recognize this as a violation of Mr. Bianco’s patent rights, we are looking at damage on a huge scale, taking into consideration the enormous publicity potential of the internet coverage used in handling this issue. So I hope that this will bring protection to the offended party, the small businessman, against a multinational company with great economic resources.”
Designer in battle against BMW for “Gina”
COVERING SYSTEM CONTESTED: CASE FILED AGAINST THE GERMAN CARMAKERS AT THE ROME PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE.
Source: Corriere della Sera 01/03/2009 – Michele Manno
Rome
It is certainly a strange case that has ended up on the desk of the Public Prosecutor in Rome.
You could almost say that the two contestants are the present situation and the future.
The present situation is represented by designer Giuseppe Bianco; the future by the well-known BMW car manufacturers.
Why future? Because BMW recently won an award in Paris for the most beautiful “Concept Car of 2008”.
The car has an unusual name: ”Gina”. And we know for a fact that, like Gina Lollobrigida and all other women, Gina loves elegant clothes. So much so that she has been called the “Light visionary model”.
She is a car that we will never actually see on the road, like all “concept cars” which, by definition, propose new ideas destined to take shape on the roads of everyday life some time in the near future. The idea is in the composition of the car body, consisting principally of an elasticized fabric stretched over the frame which can be modified at the touch of a button, depending on the driver’s tastes. So it is a fabric to suit all occasions, from a simple meal in a pizzeria to a Gala evening in Monte Carlo. It is a kind of travelling haute couture wardrobe.
But this is where the present, with its laws and regulations, impacts on “Gina’s” destiny. Fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco has initiated a case against BMW, alleging counterfeit and the violation of the industrial property law, claiming that it was he who, in 2005, invented the exclusive procedure by which it is possible to apply any type of covering (leather, fabric and technical materials) to the body of a car or motorbike, thus making “the coverings themselves impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents”. Before turning to the justice system, in this case public prosecutor Marcello Monteleone, Giuseppe Bianco’s lawyers warned BMW not to continue any activities connected with the use of this process. But the car was still presented.
Whatever the truth of the matter – and legal battles over patents are usually complex – perhaps one day we will hear the verdict. It is up to the judiciary to decide who is right and who is wrong: but for once the case does not concern murder, disputes or violence, but the future of a car; and the prosecution and defence have to make a decision about “Gina”.
Hi,
There is always 2 sides to a story.
Any Tom Dick or Harry can have ideas. It not where you take the idea from…. its how you bring the idea to greater heights. An idea in itself is worthless without proper execution backed by a resourceful company like BMW.
By the way, GINA was completed back in 2003 before this Italian designer filed his patent in 2005. BMW kept it under wraps for 5 years coz its was too advanced for its time.
will be as you say but the BMW came out in 2008 when there was already a patent of 2006
i see that you are cutting and pasting the exact same comments on other websites such as:
http://www.hemmy.net/2008/06/13/bmw-gina-concept-car-made-from-textile-fabric/
and
http://www.ibert.be/2008/06/bmw-gina-context-over-dogma.html
and
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/bmw-gina-cloth-car-becomes-transformer-housing.php
it seems like you are on a personal vendetta to discredit BMW for the creation of GINA. Care to explain why? Is Giuseppe Bianco your personal friend?
btw…. who’s Giuseppe Bianco anyway? Never heard of the guy….
1) no revenge
2) the boy I would be …
3) news newspapers
4) not disparage the BMW but if wrong pays! ciao.
Giuseppe Bianco Italian designer
wow nice shots and videos..