mitchell

Not exactly NEW news but seems no one here has mentioned it.

a commentary of the article follows...not bad company...


"Architectural Digest's Editor-in-Chief Paige Rense explains the issue's concept this way: "We're asking (contemporary designers) to tell us what things -- old or new, big or small, rare or ubiquitous -- reflect, in their opinions, the fundamental principles of brilliant design."


The issue's 356 pages are laced with wonderful examples of homes, furniture, clothing, decorative items... even famous trains and aircraft. But I was both surprised and delighted, considering AD's normal home-oriented theme, to see how many automobiles were selected by designers and decorators as a favorite design example. Here, for your edification and entertainment, are the vehicles along with the accompanying quotes.


2004 Morgan Aero 8
"Sleek, fun-filled powerhouse... design and performance king of the road"


2004 Mercedes-Benz CL 500 Coupe
"Old world glamour"


Lamborghini Gallardo
"Marriage of necessity and beauty"


Volkswagen Beetle (the original)
"Most identifiable car design in history"


1950's Mercedes-Benz 300S Convertible
"Captivated by its style and drama"


Porsche Boxster
"Among the best-designed sports cars"


BMW 6-Series
"Sleek, refined, graceful, aerodynamically proportioned"


2004 Cadillac XLR
"Crisp modern design that goes beyond almost everything from Europe or Japan"


Toyota Scion Xb
"Reminds me of the classic woodies of the 40's and 50's"


Audi TT Coupe
"All Audi cars are fabulously designed and engineered"


Ferrari Dino 246 GT
"Uncluttered, heavily edited, highly disciplined"


1958 MGA
"First and favorite automobile"


1967 Jeepster
"Designed specifically for the youth market"


1975 Jensen Interceptor
"This car is the perfect marriage between Detroit muscle and classic English car design"


1957 Lotus Elite
"Unique fiberglass construction allowed for ultimate performance"


1998 Ferrari 355 Spider GT
"Designed to be light and fast -- and it is... zero to 60 in 4.6 seconds"


As you'll have noted, many of the designer's picks are classics and all but two are sports cars or convertibles. What I find especially interesting is the inclusion of Toyota's new Scion Xb, whose shape is pure box with hardly a curve anywhere. Beauty, however, can be found in functionality if you've an open mind. The same can be said of the Beetle, though in contrast to the Scion Xb, it's all curves. Note that it took a long time before the Beetle's unusual appearance was acceptable to North Americans.


Included among the beautiful cars, elegant furnishings, and gorgeous homes were three icons of great transportation design: The Santa Fe Super Chief, which first gave us fast, luxurious, diesel-powered trains; the 1923 Chris-Craft Runabout, a steamlined wood-hull speedboat; and the PanAm China Clippers, revolutionary flying boats that transformed 1930's travel.


If you enjoy design for its own sake, I heartily recommend that you pick up the May issue of Architectural Digest. No, you can't borrow mine! It will have a permanent place on my coffee table; I'll spend countless hours savouring those everyday products that enrich our lives through the designer's art."

fr130

Hmm, no other Japanese cars, other than the xB. :D

TheScionicMan

The xB reminds him of having a woody... hehehe

kwicslvr

Cool write up!

thinkCooper

OH NO! The Gucci pursed, Prada shoed Architectural Digest reading soccer mom's of middle america are all going to be buying xBs! My significant other will make fun of me! The other tuners will think we are poseurs! Other people than me will be driving other xBs than mine! It's going to be the next mini-van! I better sell my xB now! It's over! NOOOO!

Now that I purged that demon.... :twisted:

I think the xB's anti-design is a statement unto itself. I raise my glass to the editors at AD for recognizing the xB's old-school style and design simplicity. I love this silly little car.

Cheers to all the smart xB buyers out there! You've purchased a very unique, very bold little ride!

ecandlcubed

alright!! who's up to the challenge of designing a woody kit for my xb!!!!

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mitchell

I only disagree with them on one issue. And that is the omission of the new beetle. I guess they didn't want to list BOTH beetles, but the significance of the new beetle is huge.
And I know the Miata (another possible oversite) broke ground first on the inexpensive "retro" craze, but the new beetle really raised the standard for truly bold design.

Without the New Beetle's success, Toyota (a RATHER conservative company) probably would not have had the nerve to bring the XB here. I also doubt Chrystler would have gone to market with the PT Cruiser. etc etc.

The Audi TT (while beautiful, and still one of my favorite designs on the road) seems derivative of the new beetle to me.

Of course these lists are silly anyway. Hard to quantify the impact of auto design in history, but remember all of the iMac-New Beetle comparisons? Both were celebrated as paradigms of modern design. They had a soul. They raised the bar for industrial designers of everything from kitchen utensils to microwave ovens to jewelry.

I've never heard of the Audi TT' influencing any other design discipline.

Do you remember the introduction of the Audi TT?
How about the introduction of the New Beetle?

Scottie_Do

The audi tt is just a chop top beetle... at least to me

Max2k

I am all about the excellent design. I'll definitely look into picking that issue up.

LuxNova

That would kick so much ___. I'd get the second one, after you.

I work for a small, very wealthy CT town. I get the most compliments from the kind of people who get magazines like Architectural Digest. The best compliment I've gotten was from an Art Historian (yes, people have that job) who said that it looked like a car that Marcel Bruer would have designed, if he ver designed cars. For those who don't know, Bruer was one of the leading architects in the Bauhaus design movement. He is probably best known for designing the Whitney Museum in NYC.

George

Yeah, why should the PT cruiser and Jeep Cherokee folks have all the fun?

thinkCooper

"Breuer" also is responsible for for some amazing utilitarian furniture that has a very clean and squared box-like design form. The xB does look like soemething he would have designed.

http://www.designmuseum.org/designer...cel-breuer.htm

mitchell

at the risk or jacking my own thread . I saw a guy with one of these (not this one, it's a photochop) at the scion VIP event in NJ. It looked great. apparently his customizer told not to say where he got it. He does NOT want to do another...maybe a decal place could make up a batch?

showroom

amazing article, I couldn't help but think that all the cars in there are $60K++++ but the Beetle, tt and xB. is there a link to the article?

fr130

Here ya go:



Would it be interesting if we will see the xB at the National Gallery of ARts. Or one of the many art museums in Washington DC. :D

satanisanerd734

R.I.P. xB

DibujoB

lol...noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! J/k. I think it needs some roof racks though for boards, and the white part needs to be painted baby blue or oarnge or something to make the "woody" look a little more authentic. It just looks like a mid 80's Safari Station wagon right there.

mitchell

That's the car I was talking about!

Can't remember the owner's name, but it was great to see more than one age group at the event and excited about scions.

Thanks for finding the photo.

(And um...I know it's weird...but I kinda LIKE that safari station wagon...)

Did anyone find the link to the real digest write up?

I don't think it's online...

DibujoB

hey now...I'm not knocking the Safari! My buddy in high school had one...he was the drummer in our band and we used it to haul all of our gear. It was the original "******* waggon" complete with oarnge vinyl interior baby...yeaaah!

George

To do a woody right, it needs the beige plastic moldings around the perimeter of the wood inserts: