BMW’s Designworks opens new studio in China

Designworks, an independent design consultancy which became a BMW Group subsidiary in 1995, has long served as a complementary design studio to BMW;s own design studios in Germany. Originally established in California in 1972, Designworks opened studios in BMW’s home city of Munich and Shanghai, China (which replaced the one in Singapore in 2012).

New site for Designworks Shanghai
Recently, the studio in Shanghai was officially inaugurated at a new site in the city. The new site in the West Bund district is surrounded by numerous cultural institutions, providing the 50 creative personnel an exceptionally creative working environment. At the same time, they are in constant contact with the BMW Group design team at corporate headquarters and the other Designworks studios in Munich and Los Angeles.

“With the Designworks studio in Shanghai, we are turning the eyes and ears of the BMW Group towards Asia,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design. “Here, we can create ground-breaking innovations that are not only important for the Chinese market, but also benefit products in the global market as a whole.”

The aim is to create human-centred design innovations to meet the specific needs of customers in China and across the wider Asian region. The new Designworks studio will be an integral part of the BMW Group’s Research and Development Centre in Shanghai. Pooling design and development expertise at one location speeds up and improves interdisciplinary exchange throughout the entire product creation process: from the early phases of design, all the way to production.

Better understanding of what Chinese customers want
Through Designworks Shanghai, the BMW Group will gain valuable knowledge of the country’s culture and tradition. The studio provides assessments of the latest social, design-relevant phenomena and people’s changing needs, with regard to aesthetics, lifestyle and technology.

“The market for car design in China has been growing disproportionately and at a breathtaking pace for several years. We are positioning ourselves to reflect this: Our Designworks team in Asia has also developed rapidly over the past 10 years,” said Holger Hampf, Head of Designworks.

“Together with the studios in Munich and Los Angeles, Designworks is in an ideal position to constantly inspire the BMW Group and our external clients with innovative new ideas,” he said.

Design innovations for China – and the world
The design studio in China has already been influential in some new models, eg  the new G60 5-Series Sedan variant developed exclusively for the Chinese market. For the first time, the new 5-Series for China not only comes with a longer wheelbase, creating a more spacious rear compartment, but also with proportions that are specifically designed with Chinese customers in mind.

The Gran Coupe profile also has exclusive design elements that give the sedan the luxurious, thoroughly modern character and a strong presence which customers in the largest auto market in the world desire.

Defining premium quality in future
The question of how future customers define premium quality is of particular significance to the BMW Group. The ‘Designworkers’ are gaining specific insights into the Asian region and translating them into concrete product ideas. In the field of colour and material design, the team is combining traditional craftsmanship with visionary materials to create a new and sustainable interpretation of quality at the highest level.

For example, in cooperation with BMW Group Design and local Chinese tech start-ups, Designworks is reinterpreting traditional Chinese handicrafts such as ZhangRong velvet, Song brocade and lacquer with contemporary aesthetics for possible use in series production. Sustainable processes paired with natural and recycled materials are creating a new sense of wellbeing due to novel optical and haptic impressions.

Contributing to BMW Group’s digital experience
Creative output from Designworks Shanghai is also valuable for the BMW Group’s digital experience: from visualisation of BMW IPA (Intelligent Personal Assistant), to the creation of the latest MINI digital companion (known as SPIKE) and special Festival Modes – artistic animations played on the Control Display of current BMW models to celebrate special occasions.

As at other Designworks locations, the creative minds at the Shanghai studio do not work exclusively for the BMW Group and its brands. They are also commissioned, in parallel, by a large number of clients from other industries, and not just the auto industry.

This gives Designworks a unique outside-in perspective that enables it to enrich BMW Group design with inspiring and innovative design ideas. Clients of Designworks have included Adidas, Compaq, Nokia, Siemens and Singapore Airlines.

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