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Home > Articles > Ragazine Rack > Luxury Automotive living by H.Lehmann...
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Bringing the luxury automotive style home. Literally.
Special to Motorburg.com by contributing editor Henry Lehmann
How would you like to enjoy a Porsche in your kitchen or a Lamborghini in your office? Many premium automobile manufacturers have collaborated with other prestige brands to share design knowledge and create some amazing products. The combination of attractive design, sound engineering and high quality materials is hard to beat. It creates desire, provides convenience, longevity, and a pride of ownership. Upscale automobile manufacturers have long recognized this and are eager to transfer those design and manufacturing skills to other products in their quest for world domination.
It seems obvious that if you produce something beautiful and well made of outstanding materials there should be a line of customers at your door. It is not quite that simple. Sound design principles must be followed and at some point the cost/value relationship becomes an issue. Good design can actually keep costs in line and elevate value by eliminating waste, improving efficiency and creating beauty.
Porsche has been a leader in industrial and product design for several decades. Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche founded the Porsche Design Studio in Stuttgart in 1972 and relocated to Zell am See/Austria three years later. Since that time this studio has been the birthplace of outstanding designs. They have been recognized at internationally renowned design competitions such as the Red Dot Award.
During a recent interview, Roland Heiler, Managing Director of Porsche Design Studio stated, “We believe in the principle of timeless, functional and puristic design, and we are guided by our ambition to create products that are lifetime companions. Personally, I think that luxury is the privilege to be able to afford extraordinary goods and experiences. As for Porsche Design, such experience is not defined by lavishness and decoration but by reducing things to their essentials and by choosing high-end materials that guarantee functionality and a long service life.”
Recently Porsche Design announced their collaboration with Poggenpohl Mobelwerke Gmbh and exclusive appliance supplier Miele & Cie. KG to present their first co-designed kitchen, the P’7340. This kitchen is distinguished by its innovative framework, purist styling and high-quality materials. Miele will be the exclusive supplier of all fitted appliances. The official launch is planned for sometime in 2008. Features will include, black lacquer and satin metallic surfaces, uncompromising aesthetics, assisted opening and closing, built-in ambient lighting and under mount stainless steel sinks with integrated countertop drainage channels. Extensive use of aluminum and anodized metallic surfaces allow hypoallergenic performance along with high loading capacities and weight savings. It is a veritable “tour de force” of kitchen design and craftsmanship. Direct parallels to the quality and engineering of their automobiles are unmistakable. With their new kitchen, both companies are responding to a trend showing an increasing number of men who display an interest in luxuriously appointed kitchens and cuisine. Poggenpohl, named after the late Walter Ludewig Poggenpohl, has been a pioneer of the German kitchen furniture industry. The brand is synonymous with technical and aesthetic quality as well as practical functionality.
Porsche Design recently developed a freestanding wine cellar for premium Champagne maker Veuve Clicquot called the Vertical Limit. It is made of brushed stainless steel and comes in a limited edition of 15 pieces stocked with twelve selected bottles of Veuve Cliquot vintage champagne. Each bottle is stacked behind its own door to enhance the exclusiveness of each individual vintage. Upon opening the door, the bottle behind it is presented on a Veuve Cliquot-yellow illuminated background.
The list of Porsche Design Group products is broad and quite impressive. Included on the list are technical and design marvels such as the P’9521 Mobile Phone, the P’9611 Navigation system, an Ultrasonic diagnosis device for hospitals called the Voluson V 730 and even an interior for a small business jet produced by Swiss aircraft manufacturer Grob Aerospace.
BMW Group DesignworksUSA is very active developing products in partnership with other premium brands. Launched at select Starbucks Coffee company-operated stores in North America and on line in November 2007, the “Sirena”™ espresso machine was developed together with Starbucks to create a unique espresso machine for domestic use. Those who wish to brew their coffee in the style of the espresso master, known in Italian bars and cafés as the Barista, can in future fulfill this wish in a classy fashion using the newly developed semi-automatic espresso machine Sirena™. This model combines the product characteristics of the original classic version, which is described as a portafilter, with state-of-the-art technical components.
At the presentation of the 2007 red dot awards BMW Group DesignworksUSA garnered three red dot awards for product, two for automobile and three for motorcycle design. The red dot award is one of the most significant awards for successful design in the world. The prize is awarded in numerous categories and during 2007 a total of 2.548 products from 43 countries were nominated for the red dot award. BMW Group DesignworksUSA received two further red dot awards this year in the household and kitchen products category. One of the awards went to the ecopod E1, a recycling station for beverage holders, which is produced by the American company ecopod, another going to the fully automatic coffee percolator Talea Touch presented by the Italian company Saeco. In both cases BMW Group DesignworksUSA was involved in the early stages of product development. A design was created that reflects the characteristics of each product as well as the brand identity of the respective manufacturer.
In August 2007 BMW’s MINI brand announced their collaboration with Onitsuka Tiger brand shoes to create a new shoe under the Onitsuka Tiger brand which is inspired by the MINI Clubman, called the Onitsuka Tiger for MINI. The design of the shoe is based upon the upcoming new model the MINI Clubman which will be launched in November 2007. The shoes will be available in a limited edition from December 1st, 2007 and can be purchased from Onitsuka Tiger Stores, selected fashion stores and key MINI dealers globally. The shoe will be offered in three color combinations: “Chocolate/Cream” following the MINI Clubman’s identity, “Black/Silver” as the brand colors of MINI and “Cream/Green” referring to British Racing Green.
Other design elements of the MINI Clubman can be found in the details of the shoe. The puffed leather is based on the MINI Clubman’s interior. Ellipse style shapes and circles are signature elements of the MINI Clubman and are reflected in the design of the Onitsuka Tiger for MINI.
Other design efforts from BMW Group DesginworksUSA are extensive and include a strategic alliance with yacht builder Zeydon to create a high performance, offshore luxury yacht in the 60-foot class and a design concept for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which introduces a whole new dimension in personal travel. According to BMW Group Designworks USA, “People who regard the world as their home have specific demands on the style of their environments. They aspire to express their individuality even when traveling. As a result of this unique interior design conceived for approximately 19 passengers, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is transformed into a superlative mobile working and living space. The designers have given special consideration to the needs of highly discerning travelers to whom and aircraft is not solely a means of transport, but also a place to live and express their own individual personality.”
A section of the cargo hold is reserved for personal vehicle transportation. No matter where in the world the Boeing 787 lands a seamless transition to on the road mobility is guaranteed.
Computer manufacturer ASUS International has teamed up with Lamborghini to launch the new VX-2 notebook. It incorporates styling cues from the super car such as Lamborghini yellow and carbon fiber black surfaces, premium leather bound palm rest with exquisite stitch detailing and wheel rimmed cooling fan lid. Data security is assured with a built-in fingerprint scanner that reads from the live layer of skin. This prevents common skin surface conditions from impairing scanner accuracy. It has a built-in swivel webcam that leads the way much like the cars headlights, bringing vision with it anywhere you wish to go. With the ultimate option package the VX-2 is fully Blu-ray enabled. With Blu-ray disc capabilities, you can enjoy the ultimate in HD video, totally distortion free mind-boggling resolution. You may also record 25-50 GB of video pictures or data to a single Blu-ray disc. That is five times the capacity of standard DVD’s. It also has a hot swappable module bay which allows you to detach your DVD or insert an additional battery without shutting down.
Lamborghini has also teamed up with Nokia to create the Limited Edition Nokia 8800 Sirocco phone. It bears the prestigious Lamborghini logo. A scratch-resistant sapphire coated glass protects its display screen. Aside from the special Lamborghini ring tones and themes, it has all of the usual features such as Bluetooth, internet, video and a 2 – mega pixel camera. If you are a Lamborghini aficionado, you’ve got to have this phone.
Ferrari has teamed up with computer maker ACER to offer a similar computing device called the TUR64X2. They have also applied their considerable design talents to the creation of the Traffic Assist Pro – Ferrari Navigation device in partnership with Harman/Becker and a joint effort with David Wiener Ventures to produce the ultimate Ferrari Art Engine home audio system. It is limited to 1000 pieces worldwide and available in four different official Ferrari paint hues: Rosso Corsa (red), Argento Nurburgring (metallic silver), Grigio Silverstone (metallic grey) and Nero (black). The Art Engine audio instrument embraces extraordinary performance, combined with uncompromised materials and craftsmanship. It combines timeless styling with exclusivity and technological advances in digital and wireless music transmission which you may enjoy from any position in a room.
If you need a high performance Ferrari skateboard to go along with the Ferrari in the garage you can choose a seven-layer Canadian maple board in stunning Ferrari red finish with the Italian tricolor and Prancing Horse logo on the underside. It comes with its own stylish red nylon carry bag. Upscale infants can ride in style with the Ferrari Primo model child’s car seat in Ferrari red with logos and its own Sabelt three point racing seatbelts.
Bentley has teamed up with exclusive Swiss watch maker Breitling to offer a complete line of exclusive men’s chronograph time pieces called Breitling for Bentley. Working with Italian pen maker Tibaldi they also offer custom, low production writing instruments. According to Leon Bakka, Regional Marketing Manager for Bentley USA, “We offer bespoke craftsmanship, low production, high quality construction and premium materials. We will only align ourselves with like minded brands that are capable of meeting the expectations of the Bentley customer. One of the questions we continually ask ourselves is: "Does it remain exclusive if it is too broadly available?" Collaborations must be an alliance of equals. If one brand is weaker the relationship becomes parasitic rather than creating a win/win partnership.”
When asked how such collaborations translate to the core business, Stacy Morris, BMW USA, states: “This process helps us to vision what premium consumers’ lives will be like in 30 or 40 years and allow us to monitor design trends that these same customers will be expecting us to include in products of the future. BMW Design Works, with their headquarters in California, have worked with many premium brands such as Hewlett Packard, John Deere, Seiko, Microsoft and Remington. The Design Works group employs a distinct team of designers focusing on travel, lifestyle and home items. Information is shared between the California design office and the automotive design group for the overall benefit of the BMW brand”.
A golden age of premium merchandise is upon us and the future looks bright indeed. The design and development pipeline is full of luxury items that reflect a sophisticated standard of living and a dynamic personal style. If we accept the definition of “luxury” as the privilege to be able to afford extraordinary goods and experiences, now has never been a better time to exercise that privilege! |
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