A Reaction to the Museum of Modern Art's Exhibition
Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century
by Omar Abou-Zied, CarConnoisseur
Contemporary automobile design suffers an artistic crisis. Due in part to legislation enacted in response to 1970s petroleum exploits and resultant environmental fears, the inspired hands of automobile designers have been steadily deformed by the turbofans of the windtunnel. The quest for aerodynamic perfection is detrimental to art. Originality, symbolism, individualism, expressionism, and escapism cannot survive character-erasing winds. Nor do they survive the marketplace's competition syndrome: over-reliance on the iconography developed by leading design houses, often producing caricatures of past models. Mechanical engineering and ergonomic interior design are the last realms for progress if we continue on the different roads presented. All of the concepts exhibit that aerodynamic concerns must be kept in check by a connoisseurship that dismantles ignorant taboos set against including automobiles in the canons of "good art."
DaimlerChrysler's smart [sic] offers mould-breaking architectural, environmental, and social solutions. As revolutionary as it seems, it is truly a macro-evolutionary 21st century standard, just as forward thinking as the 1901 "Mercedes" which terminated the era of the mere horseless carriage. Quickly changeable, multi-color body panels, a superficial remnant of SMH/Swatch's involvement, alleviate its severe functionalism and permit a measure of expressionism. Its cousin, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, successfully marries this storeyed architecture with the marque's design vocabulary.
Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century
by Omar Abou-Zied, CarConnoisseur
Contemporary automobile design suffers an artistic crisis. Due in part to legislation enacted in response to 1970s petroleum exploits and resultant environmental fears, the inspired hands of automobile designers have been steadily deformed by the turbofans of the windtunnel. The quest for aerodynamic perfection is detrimental to art. Originality, symbolism, individualism, expressionism, and escapism cannot survive character-erasing winds. Nor do they survive the marketplace's competition syndrome: over-reliance on the iconography developed by leading design houses, often producing caricatures of past models. Mechanical engineering and ergonomic interior design are the last realms for progress if we continue on the different roads presented. All of the concepts exhibit that aerodynamic concerns must be kept in check by a connoisseurship that dismantles ignorant taboos set against including automobiles in the canons of "good art."
DaimlerChrysler's smart [sic] offers mould-breaking architectural, environmental, and social solutions. As revolutionary as it seems, it is truly a macro-evolutionary 21st century standard, just as forward thinking as the 1901 "Mercedes" which terminated the era of the mere horseless carriage. Quickly changeable, multi-color body panels, a superficial remnant of SMH/Swatch's involvement, alleviate its severe functionalism and permit a measure of expressionism. Its cousin, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, successfully marries this storeyed architecture with the marque's design vocabulary.
That the Audi Al2 is instantly recognizable as an Audi proves that aerodynamics are not entirely responsible for the artistic crisis. With the NSU Ro80, and later with the 1980s 100/200 series, Audi developed a singular and signature vocabulary articulating aerodynamic efficiency with handsome style. Beauty at this level of efficiency is seen in the arch formed by the A- and C-pillars, directly from the production A6 model.
In fact, this arch motif is "German" and can now be found on VW, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz production cars.
Fiat's Multipla is problematic. While its architecture is state of the art, its exterior design moves us further into decline. Its surface details resemble the generic Fiat Bravo/Brava models. The lack of tumblehome and emphasis on verticality symbolize the soulless appliance that it is, just as cargo- and mini-vans generally are, too. This concept seems ignorant of the triumphs of postwar Italian design because its exterior is an abstraction of elements currently failing new cars.
The form of GM's EV1 best describes the limit imposed by the quest for aerodynamic efficiency. Surely it is sleek, but "that ain't art!" With such a weak engine, the team of engineers prioritized sheer kinetics, not moving the hearts of passersby. EV1's exterior is quite possibly the final analysis of the scientifically pragmatic and restrictive protocol governing contemporary automobile design. The Humanities are irrelevant at this exterior/interior interface because we can only interact with the Scientific Method's saccharine output. This appliance cannot symbolize freedom! Will we have to connote the term "automobile" in a communal sense, rather than an individualistic one? Human emotions and senses once governed the interplay between design house iconography and consumers. Undoubtedly, EV1 foreshadows a world where technology oppresses individuality and personal freedoms are as limited as their tethered connections.
Reading Chrysler's CCV, Rover's New Mini, and Honda's VV/Insight imparts the knowledge that the industry is headed in the wrong direction. The muses are Citroen's 2CV, Morris's 850 Mini Cooper, and Honda's CRX, each of which redefined the concept of the small, affordable, user-friendly vehicle in the 1940's, 1960's, and 1980's, respectively. These monuments of good design were commercially successful with long production runs, and their influence today confirms that they were either right on time or ahead of it. The great number of retro-designs produced in the last 15 years should be understood as protests against the avalanche of what is mistakenly considered progress. The collective CCV, VV/Insight, and New Mini's "neo-everything" or "hindsight" design renders them as remorseful, prodigal sons returning from forays into the wastelands of the EV1. Does this make them Post-Modern? If they have character, it is only because they are caricatures of originals.
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Ford Ka's exterior deserves scrutiny. As with an early Netherlandish painting, a cursory glance will not allow its story to be told. Flared fenders in black rubber are a metaphor for fat, high-performance, sportscar tires. The rear fenders do an especially good job of suggesting "gumballs" and the powerful torque they tame. Ahead of the A-pillars, quickly receding isosceles triangles-cum-headlamps, working in conjunction with a forward thrusting trapezoidal bonnet, capped by a very broad and shallow (Ford) oval, convey the ancestral ideal of a long bonnet/wide body with a visual economy of means. Unlike the smart, Al2, and Multipla, verticality is de-emphasized with roof pillars falling more readily towards each other while a sloping character line emphasizes sporty low-nose/high-tail forward motion. Toyota's bland Prius fails to match the effectiveness of Ka's surface detailing and ends up looking top heavy and utilitarian. Without relying on the crutches of retro-design, Ka manages to describe traditional automotive ideals and yet look forward, literally with cab-forward design. Its form, dubbed "New Edge," is a most intriguing attempt to define Ford's world design vocabulary.
All of the concepts should be applauded for their engineering, if not their timing. Alternative fuels, electricity, composites, alloys, aluminum, plastics, and ceramics are clearly the wave of our future, aren't they? What about the petroleum and steel giants who have invested billions into automotive industries and infrastructures? They won't easily be removed, certainly not without costly legal battles and prolonged lobbying efforts, so we should expect Oil to reign for generations to come. How will automobile industries in Third World nations develop? China, for example, may produce electric or hybrid cars. Will its exploitation of recently discovered, vast coal deposits, without an Environmental Protection Agency, negate the benefits of Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicles? In the U.S., and generally in North America, large cars are so popular that, since the 1970s, each successive generation of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry has grown larger. Gone are the days when Japan exported econoboxes to the U.S. Almost every manufacturer who wants to compete in the most important market in the world must build an SUV. The larger the vehicle the better it seems to sell, every year for a decade. These best-sellers are not small cars but medium-sized, five-passenger cars or the largest trucks. Too, they are cleaner than ever. For example, Mercedes-Benz 6.0 liter V-12 cars reduced emissions significantly below outgoing V8s by using 7.0 liter-capacity catalytic converters. Almost entirely recyclable with stamped codes on myriad parts, they also introduced chloro-fluorocarbon-free climate control systems. Furthermore, "although the laws of physics are undeniable," none dictate that larger vehicles must inherently resemble military tanks: Scientists can tell us the earth is round, but artists make it go round! One could also argue that slab sides, wheel and tyre shields, replaceable body panels, and armadillo- or tortoise-like forms are military. Consumers do not readily embrace small, efficient cars, rather they are forced into them by economic or environmental mandate. smart and Multipla are not selling as initially projected. In countries with cheap gasoline or flexible fuels, only a niche market exists for such vehicles.
Good automobile design elicits emotions and becomes the literal vehicle for self-expression. Between the wars, coachbuilders produced bespoke bodies for the elite. Aerodynamic experiments before the proliferation of windtunnels materialized exceptionally lyrical results. The coachwork of Figoni et Falaschi, Saoutchik, Van Vooren, Touring, Letourneur et Marchand, Chapron, Gordon Buehrig, LeBaron, and Murphy convey streamlining's expressionism.
Today, names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Jaguar conjure up distinct images. Such expensive cars are traditionally sleek and sporting, but not necessarily aerodynamic. Marcello Gandini's Lamborghini Countach, an extremely symbolic wedge-shaped yardstick of exotic sportscars, never saw the windtunnel.
What we are witnessing in the automotive world is an "International Style" analogous to that which failed architecture. Symptomatic and troubling is the articulation of new models' posterior "hips." The area behind the doors, about the rear wheel, ahead of the tail, and including the C-pillar is especially nebulous. Aston Martin DB7, Jaguar XK8, Mercedes-Benz CL/CLK, Honda Civic coupe, Porsche 996, Chrysler Sebring, Maserati 3200GT, Volvo C70, and Ferraris 360 Modena/550Maranello/456GT all stumble here. Many more have succumbed completely to homogenization. Dissatisfaction, whether conscious or unconscious, with the contemporary automobile is evident. Demand over the last decade has caused the aftermarket industries to explode their offerings of custom and semi-custom wheels, tires, spoilers, graphics, and other accessories to the average consumer. Is it any wonder that Lowriders currently experience a Golden Age?
Many automobile manufacturers now include past models in new car campaigns. Most are not worthy; their makers are longing for the past, and their new models' heritage cannot be recognized without such comparisons. Acura (Honda), Infiniti (Nissan), and Lexus (Toyota) all want to compete with established leader Mercedes-Benz, but, having no history, do so shamelessly by plagiarizing the design vocabulary belonging to the star marque. Jaguar XJ8 trapezoid decklids, Ford Crown Victorias, Chrysler Sebrings, and the 2000 Cadillac DeVille are guilty as well. Similarly, Ingrid Bergman's Ferrari 375MM, Bertone's Alfa Romeo Giulia SS, Jensen's CV8, and a few 1970s & '80s American cars prove this is no new phenomenon. In fact, Ford Granada advertisements pictured this non-competitive model alongside a contemporary Mercedes-Benz and related to consumers its intentionally similar surface design could be had for a far better price. Chrysler took a similar approach a few years later with its K-cars, albeit more discreetly. This practice when combined with aerodynamics degenerated into an artistic crisis producing look-alike cars.
Some may say that aerodynamic principles are to blame. Nonsense, just look at Audi! Why are they able to produce artfully aerodynamic designs, exemplified by their Avus and TT Coupe? Lexus, builder of "Masquerades-Benz," does produce an artfully detailed synthesis of sport and elegance in coupe form, with a look of restrained aggression complemented by an interior whose subtle shade gradations and more natural, muted tones are characteristically "Japanese." Nissan's second-generation Infiniti Q45 also masquerades, but its Z Concept is an articulate expression of Z-Car heritage. Z Concept is not retrograde nostalgia, but an evolutionary design taking inspiration from its purest origins, even if the 240Z owes much to Pininfarina's Ferrari 275 GTB. Audi's TT Coupe, Nissan's Z Concept, and Bertone's Bella confirm the genius of Zagato's aerodynamic silhouettes, with oval, cat-like, contractile haunches. Recognize, too, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, or SAAB, whose automobiles are uniquely inspired by aeronautical research not blind aerodynamics. Furthermore, while many cars intentionally look like Mercedes-Benz, and many Mercedes-Benz models appear similar, at least the Mercedes-Benz design vocabulary is original and influential. Admittedly, all German automobile interiors became less Spartan after the emergence and commercial success of Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus. However, uniform dependence upon the oeuvre of Bruno Sacco (et al) only reinforces my opinion that today's leader of world automotive design is Mercedes-Benz. The inclusion of the Faszination: Mercedes Design retrospective at the 1999 Milan Triennale underscores Bruno Sacco/Mercedes-Benz Bereich Design's influence on the industry.
Just because most people take cars for granted doesn't mean that automobile designers are historically incapable of producing works worthy of the status "Art." Good design is good design. Author and critic Bruno Alfieri believes automobiles are the "most symbol-laden of twentieth century design objects." They deserve more than just a nod to industrial design because their power is abstruse and transcendental. We are on the road to losing what we always took for granted but never cared, or rather, knew how to understand. In little over one hundred years the automobile has become as essential to "modern" life as shelter and in some ways eclipses it. Scholarship worthy of architecture is what the automobile deserves. The idea of the small, affordable, environmentally sound, and politically correct automobile, as presented by MoMA, succeeds mechanically but not aesthetically. Most disturbing is the rampant acceptance of frugality and efficiency as one of the central tenets in the rationale or goal orientation of today's luxury and sports cars. Understandably, if only one person occupies a multi-passenger vehicle most of the time, then it would be prudent to employ any of the displayed concepts just as one employs a kitchen appliance. This frightful scenario gives us every reason to expect heroism, drama, romance, and passion--indeed the now imminently historical iconology of the 20th century automobile--to elude our future cars unless liberties with aerodynamics are taken with alternative fuels and building materials.
Contrastingly, ergonomic interior "atmospheres" and high-tech mechanical engineering are two dimensions where contemporary automobiles excel. But, without a sculptural third dimension, the de-contented form wholly fails! Emulation or imitation coupled with increasingly lower coefficients of drag make the design department's duty ever more challenging. A public that "can do without art" does not help, either. Once the wind sweeps all character away, you are left with a longing for the past, a timid mimesis of Old Masters, and the realization that art requires creativity and guts.
Contrastingly, ergonomic interior "atmospheres" and high-tech mechanical engineering are two dimensions where contemporary automobiles excel. But, without a sculptural third dimension, the de-contented form wholly fails! Emulation or imitation coupled with increasingly lower coefficients of drag make the design department's duty ever more challenging. A public that "can do without art" does not help, either. Once the wind sweeps all character away, you are left with a longing for the past, a timid mimesis of Old Masters, and the realization that art requires creativity and guts.
Across the street from the MoMA, would the parking garage murals now covered with Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, and Maserati icons have the same effect if they employed the designs presented in Different Roads? Automobile design is without question art, architectural, and its opera defiant. Understand that a great automobile combines all three to form the realization of Art History's Gesamtkunstwerk, the "total work of art."