Chris Bangle: What BMW’s former head of design has been up to

Chris Bangle

After leaving BMW earlier this year, auto design guru Chris Bangle has been anything but idle. Bangle left the Bavarian automaker this past March after 16 years of service, and retreated to an old farmhouse in Piemonte, Italy where he has been enjoying life and focusing on his post-BMW life.

Under contract as a ‘silent’ employee of BMW until March 2010, Bangle has been unable to work on any projects deemed to be in conflict with his former employer. Instead he has been enjoying the Italian countryside, and giving lectures and running workshops about the industry he previously sat atop of.

Bangle has also been working on the development of his own consulting firm, Chris Bangle Associates, and has rejected offers from other car makers. Bangle is critical of the present generation of designers and their reluctance to push the boundaries.

Bangle expresses no criticism of his former employer, looking back on their time spent together with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: CAR