Chris Bangle

• Name — Chris Bangle • Birth Name — Christopher Edward Bangle • Born — 14 October 1956 • Birthplace — Ravenna, Ohio, U.S. • Occupation — Automobile designer

Bangle was born in Ravenna, Ohio, and raised in Wausau, Wisconsin. After considering becoming a Methodist minister, Bangle attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, earning a Bachelor of Science degree.

Bangle started his career at Opel in Germany, where he worked from 1981 until 1985. The first work that he designed is the interior of the Opel Junior concept car.

He moved to Fiat in Italy in 1985, to work on the second generation Fiat Panda (released 2003). From 1990 he worked as a chief designer of the Fiat Coupé (released 1993). Still in Centro Stile Fiat he designed Alfa Romeo 145. • Illustration — Fiat Coupé

• Illustration — BMW GINA He became the first American chief of design of BMW on October 1, 1992, where he designed the Z9 Gran Turismo concept car. Bangle's designs were incorporated in the entire BMW lineup, including the BMW Z4, 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 series as well as the X3, X5, and X6 the newest design SUVs, and the concept car Gina. These span the automotive platforms E81 / E82 / E87 / E88, E90 / E91 / E92 / E93, E60 / E61, E63 / E64, E65 / E66 and E53. During the Bangle era, BMW overtook Mercedes as the global leader in premium car sales, despite Bangle's controversial design language. He introduced a new BMW concept car, called GINA on June 10, 2008. On February 3, 2009, Bangle announced that he was to quit both his position at BMW and the auto industry altogether, to focus on his own design-related endeavours. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk.

Bangle now works for his own firm called Chris Bangle Associates based in Clavesana, Italy. In 2012, Bangle was hired by Samsung.

• J Mays, Ford's chief creative officer, dislikes Bangle's designs, but admits Bangle has been significant in reshaping modern cars. • Marc Newson, an industrial designer and car enthusiast, described Bangle's BMW Z4 (E85) as having been designed with a machete. • Patrick le Quément, chief designer at Renault, said: "[Bangle is] certainly the most talked about designer. His designs have a great deal of presence, and they're well proportioned. He's been highly influential. My only concern is his use of concave surfaces: they're hollow shapes and lack that tightly muscled look I feel helps design." • Martin Smith, head of design for Ford of Europe, describes Bangle as an instigator of the trend toward "surface entertainment" in cars; the Ford Iosis bears some resemblance to Bangle-styled BMWs but it was not criticized as much as Bangle's designs. • Klaus Draeger, BMW AG's Board Member for Development, said: "Christopher Bangle has had a lasting impact on the identity of BMW Group's brands. His contribution to the company's success has been decisive, and together with his teams he has mapped out a clear and aesthetic route into the future," • Robert Cumberford, former GM designer and Design Editor for Automobile, wrote in 2004 that Bangle is "a man with the courage of his convictions and of solid character, and he is worthy of our admiration for that alone."