Wallpaper Interviews BMW Chief Of Design

What impact did GINA have initially on the company?

It was like a lightening rod triggering discussions on where this could lead in terms of production and manufacturing. We questioned if mass assembly is the only way. It lead to rapid manufacturing, a way of digitally creating car parts for a fraction of the cost, that were stiffer and it made them available to more customers which we never thought we could do.

The bonnet of the Z4 M was our first digitally produced piece of hardware for a production car. This technology is called GBK, GINA im Blechkleid, or GINA in metal cloths.

Has GINA influenced BMW design?

Absolutely. When you enter GINA, the car wakes up around you and you can choose what functions to display. The BMW iDrive system is about the spirit of the GINA philosophy.

Also, the team worked with an origami master to explore ways of giving metal the origami treatment. In the Mille Miglia concept interior, for example, we have created a 3D structure from 2D sheets using special laser cutting and folding processes.

How will GINA impact on the future?

If our idea is that cars can only look like one thing then we can only make them in one way. But if we free our minds, then we can perhaps start to look at methods that use less energy, require less chemicals, cause less waste and are more flexible in getting products that customers want.

We have to decide what we want from our cars. It would be wrong to say BMW’s future is cloth cars, but it does make you think about cars differently – that’s the whole idea behind it.

The official GINA concept will be released today, June 10th.

[via Wallpaper]