car design thread

GM Tech Center becomes an 'official Historic landmark'
Today Mark Reuss and Ed Welburn joined a select group of employees to unveil the General Motors Technical Center Historic Landmark plaque. The National Park Service representative Patricia Trap presented the dedication plaque to Mark and Ed after brief remarks from State of Michigan Historic Preservation representative Brian Conway about the motivation behind nominating the Technical Center as a National Historic Landmark.
The campus possesses national significance as one of the most important works of modernist architect Eero Saarinen. When the GM Tech Center was dedicated in 1956, it was the pinnacle of engineering, design and advance technology, and marked Saarinen's emergence onto the international stage as an architect, planner and designer of total environment.
Many significant pieces from the original design of the campus are still at the Technical Center. Below is a top ten list of locations to explore the next time you visit Warren. If you are unable to explore the campus in person, click here for a virtual tour of the Historical Landmark.
Top ten locations to visit and explore why the General Motors Technical Center has been designated a National Historic Landmark:
Suspended Spiral staircase: Designed by Kevin Roche, the monumental spiral staircase is the visual centerpiece for the Research Administration building lobby. The steps are made of emerald pearl Norwegian granite. The total weight of the staircase is 27 tons, and it is supported entirely by 3/8 inch stainless steel suspension rods fastened to compression rings, like spokes on a bicycle wheel.
Water Tower. One of the most striking features of the campus is the stainless steel-clad water tower located on the northeast corner of the central lake. Built in 1954, it is 140-ft. high and holds 250,000 gallons of water. The tower functions visually as the counterpoint to the aluminum-clad design dome at the southwest corner of the lake. Both of these shining, light-colored metal elements provide key curvilinear moments in the predominantly rectilinear geometry of the campus.
Glazed-brick walls. The key groups of buildings that make up the historical part of the Technical Center campus consist of asymmetrical compositions of low-rise, rectangular, prismatic, flat-roofed structures with flat expanses of glazed, color brick walls. The technology and colors for glazing the brick were developed at Cranbrook by Maija Grotell, the Finnish ceramist in collaboration with AC Spark Plug Division. Eleven intense colors were developed to reflect the colors of autumn leaves in the late afternoon sun: deep crimson, scarlet, tangerine orange, lemon yellow, chartreuse, royal blue, sky blue, tobacco gray, brown, black, and white. The glaze was applied by hand-dipping each brick which resulted in a non-uniform edge condition. Saarinen intentionally introduced this hand-crafted aesthetic as a symbolic celebration of the enduring human force in industrial society.
Central Cafeteria. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recognized the importance of this building by awarding Saarinen an Honor Award in 1955 for the design of the Technical Center's Central Restaurant, an elegant one-story structure with large glass curtain walls and decorative screen designed by sculptor Harry Bertoia. The screen can be viewed from the outside, while the building itself is currently undergoing renovations. The building is located directly east and across the lake from the Mound Road entrance.
Landscape design. The grounds were designed as a collaborative effort between the well-known Landscape Architect Thomas Church and Eero Saarinen's firm. Landscaping was seen as an integral part of the Tech Center site planning and Saarinen was meticulous in his placement of the elements. More than 13,000 trees were planted, 3,180 shrubs, 55,941 ground cover plants, and 155 acres of lawn were part of the initial installation. Eleven miles of road circulate through the 330 acre campus. The planned vistas within the Technical Center are enhanced by the placement of single and double rows of trees along roadways, single rows of trees along building facades, and alleys of trees on the perimeter of the campus. These linear arrangements of trees suggest direction and movement, complement the form of the buildings, and help establish the rectilinear plan of the campus. The flat open areas of lawn enhance the simplicity and horizontality of the modernist landscape of the campus and highlight its distinctive buildings.
Design Lobby. Although each building lobby space is distinctive in form and color, they share a common design vocabulary. The Design lobby staircase, designed by Kevin Roche, is made of 7-foot, 4-inch terrazzo slabs, which overlap each other. They are "suspended" over a reflecting pool and against a backdrop of a multi-hued, rich black, glazed-brick wall. Each tread is caught in tension between pencil-thin stainless steel rods. There are 42 stairs. The white fiberglass "teacup" reception desk is a beautifully designed element by the Saarinen firm. Behind it is an aluminum wall sculpture, originally designed by Buell Mullen.
Bird in Flight sculpture. Outside of the Design lobby on the south side of the central lake stands a 20-foot polished and oxidized bronze work created by French sculptor Antoine Pevsner. It is an abstract form which suggests speed and motion.
Design Dome. This aluminum-clad, domed building is located within a courtyard surrounded by a one-story, tobacco-gray, glazed-brick wall, with perimeter landscaping that serves to conceal the outdoor display area which occupies 73,000 square feet. The outer dome is 65 feet high with a span of 188 feet and is based on pressure-vessel construction.
Wall of Water fountain. Located on the west side of the campus just beyond the main gate, this gigantic fountain pumps 6,000 gallons of water per minute to create a 115-foot wide, 55-foot high "wall of water." The 22-acre artificial lake that contains this fountain was recently renovated, rebuilding the perimeter, the islands, and replacing the trees. The Saarinen firm added this element in place of an office tower that was removed from the original plan.
National Historic Landmark plaque. Recently installed along the west side of the central lake, half way between the Design building and the Research & Development buildings. The plaque reads:
"The General Motors Technical Center has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses national significance as one of the most important works of modernist architect Eero Saarinen.

 

New semester starts the 2nd week in September
I'm teaching the Junior class this semester, and it's a Honda sponsored project
Seniors are doing another Mercedes project

If I got all my info correctly, they don't publish an official list, but I understand almost the entire class from last Spring landed jobs
Several went to GM, some to Ford & Chrysler
One to VW Germany
One to Confederate Motorcycles in the South

The school is still waiting for the Ferrari Competition results, but I believe Ferrari is looking at October to make their announcement

 

Of the 6 students that built the 3 models, 4 graduated and found jobs.
Even if they are lucky enough to finish near the top, it's going to be after the fact for the 4 grads that have 'moved on' so to speak
But they did use the Ferrari work in their respective portfolios, so all was not lost.......it got them jobs!

I heard that Art Center did well getting their grads jobs, but I haven't been able to confirm that

 

MB was last Fall. I don't recall any offers for CCS however.
Maybe this coming Semester.
MB did just hire a new Director: Daimler, it seems, is an attractive employer again in the design community. Proof? One and a half years after Achim Badstübner left Audi to join the design force in Sindelfingen, chief designer Gorden Wagener can score another win: Stefan Lamm, one of Europe's most prolific car designers, will lead Daimler's Advanced Exterior Design Studio in Carlsbad, California from 1 September.

Simultaneously, the Advanced Design Studio in Sunnyvale, California will be taken over by Lamm's predecessor Margarete Wies. Her tasks will include creating new solutions for user interface design.

Lamm received his education at Fachhochschule Pforzheim and the Art Center College of Design in Vevey, Switzerland. He joined Opel in 1996, then moved to Ford in Cologne nine years later. After a distinguished, decade-long career there, Lamm became exterior chief designer at VW's subsidiary Seat on February 1, 2015. His move to Daimler comes just seven months later. - See more at: http://www.cardesignnews.com/articles/whos-where/2015/08/stefan-lamm-daimler/#sthash.DaFB3fPn.dpuf

 

interesting discussion with little regard for solid criteria for actual choices, but fun nontheless
where are the '60's icons? Toro,Riv '70.5 Camaro & Firebird, Mustang, etc
'86 Allante?

 

What a sad state of affairs
Had an opportunity to visit Bertone Design in '09 and their collection of cars was awesome.
Sad to see what's happened to them
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today's design history lesson: Karmin Ghia origins
http://www.cardesignnews.com/articles/concept-car-of-the-week/2015/08/concept-car-of-the-week-chrysler-d-elegance-1952/
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indeed xcept for the wacky taillamps
which would later show up on the Chrysler Imperial in the early '60's
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looking forward to the release of this book
Bill Mitchell was a true legend:
Maestro: Bill Mitchell
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I'm sure some of the stories he was told for the book can't be printed.
But I'm guessing he will capture the true essence of the man

 

Curious about the prices myself
The site says in several days

 

Kevin, excellent article. Art Center's influence on Automotive Design has been legendary. Every car company has benefitted in some way from ACCD grads over the years. So many great cars have been designed and influenced by ACCD Alumni.
If you're ever in the Detroit area, i'd love to show you around the campus of the College for Creative Studies. CCS & Art Center are the two schools specializing in Trans Design in the US.CCS grads are employed at almost every car company around the globe,much like ACCD grads.
Thanks for sharing the article.