Designing the Future: Inside BMW's New Designworks Studio in Santa Monica
Serving as a testing ground for concept vehicles, special projects and mobility solutions.
Designworks is a global creative consultancy with a focus on strategic innovation and design. Over the past 50 years, it has become renowned for creating innovative and impactful designs across a wide range of industries, including transportation, consumer electronics, lifestyle, and health. In particular, the company has developed a reputation for its user-centric approach, which places the needs and desires of the end-user at the center of every design decision.
This approach has been honed over many years of collaboration with BMW Group, the company’s parent organization, and has resulted in some of the most iconic automotive designs of the past few decades. However, Designworks’ expertise extends well beyond automotive design, and the company has leveraged its design capabilities to create holistic mobility solutions that serve the entire ecosystem of urban spaces.
Designworks’ new studio in Santa Monica is a testament to its dedication to promoting innovation and sustainability in the mobility industry and has the potential to establish a significant presence in the design, media, and technology community in Southern California. We had the privilege of visiting the studio during the Frieze Los Angeles 2023 event, and our expectations were exceeded.
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
BMW Designworks has evolved from creating clay models for vehicle design to developing holistic mobility solutions for urban spaces over the last 50 years. The new Santa Monica studio, which is the largest of the three global Designworks studios, will serve as a testing ground for innovative and sustainable mobility solutions of the future. Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President, BMW Group Design, and former Head of Designworks, believes that the new studio will inspire new ideas for BMW Group brands. The studio will support the shift from physical to digital design and development. Holger Hampf, Head of Designworks, emphasizes that the new workspace in Santa Monica is geared towards virtual communication and enables the team to bring their work to life for clients in new ways, while personal interaction remains important. Hampf adds, “Our new studio allows us to fully exploit the freedoms digitalization gives us.”
According to van Hooydonk, artists and designers are forward thinkers who challenge the status quo, accelerate transformation, and shape the future. He and artist Thomas Demand share an intense interest in social and cultural developments that help them evaluate the relevance of their work for the future. In 2019, van Hooydonk invited Demand to photograph the BMW Vision M NEXT before its official unveiling, and Demand created paper parts of the car that artistically conveyed the vehicle’s central ideas. These images became the first ones released by BMW.
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
As a a subsidiary of BMW Group, Designworks is involved in internal design projects within the company, while also sharing ideas and expertise developed through their work with external clients from other sectors. This collaboration provides an “outside-in” perspective that helps to enrich and inform the development of the company’s user-centric approach. Designworks has created two innovative seat studies for the BMW brand that combine sustainability with visionary design, and is experimenting with new production methods and environmentally-friendly materials, such as bacteria-based and plastic-free textiles.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 race car, which debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona, was also designed by Designworks, combining traditional elements with modern technology. Additionally, for the most recent Consumer Electronics Show, Designworks created a special app to accompany the presentation of the BMW i Vision Dee, a concept vehicle featuring color-changing E Ink technology. The app allows users to create a “digital twin” of the car and project it onto any background to demonstrate its potential in both real and virtual worlds.
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
Bmw Designworks
In conclusion, Designworks has come a long way since its inception, evolving from creating clay models for vehicle design to developing holistic mobility solutions for urban spaces. Signaling the opening of its new studio in Santa Monica, Designworks is poised to make even greater strides in the field of design, inspiring innovative and sustainable mobility solutions of the future. And with its dedication to sustainability and cutting-edge technology, Designworks is well positioned to continue its legacy of pushing boundaries in the world of design.
BMW Designworks
1601 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
USA
