(cover image: the contest winning project by Henri von Freyberg)
On Thursday, 18th September, the fourth annual Auto Design Prague (ADP) event was held at the National Technical Library, Prague.
The event aims to represent automotive design and the latest trends by world-class personalities from the field.
Conferences
Among this year’s guests was Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President for Design,Volvo Cars, who in his speech spoke about Scandinavian design and also Volvo’s new design language including the Volvo XC90, which will have its world premiere in Paris.
Another speaker who conquered the audience was Julian Thomson, Jaguar Advanced Design Director. His lecture “10 rules of car design” offered a great reflection of key topics from the field.
A precise and very insightful presentation was prepared by Johann Lemercier, who described his work on one of today’s most fascinating car: the hybrid Ferrari LaFerrari supercar.
Among other eagerly awaited performances was a presentation by Gert Hildebrand, former chief designer of Mini, who today creates the look of the new China-Israeli brand Qoros, which is heading out among established European carmakers.
The experienced designer outlined the making of the brand’s new design style which begins on a clean sheet of paper and added several personal observations from his rich professional life.
Ivo Groen presented for brand Citroen – DS, and apart from the new DS Divine concept for the Paris Auto Show he also revealed some interesting things from testing design on prototypes.
In addition to presentations on design also came a series of lectures focused on technology, such as for example a presentation by Todd C. Morgan, Vice President for Varroc Lighting Systems, who explained designers about the possibilities of laser and OLED lighting, which will significantly influence automotive design with a compact structure.
The topic of designing tools was dealt with by Michal Jelínek, and a historical perspective was offered by Jiří Hulák from the National Technical Museum.
The Design Competition
This edition also featured a new selective exhibition of the best thesis projects by automotive design students, held under the patronage of Jozef Kabaň, Škoda Auto Design Chief.
From thirty selected projects, on display at the National Technical Library Gallery, conference speakers chose the overall best project, which was awarded the “Auto Design Prague: Talent of the Year” prize.
The contest winner was Henri von Freyberg, graduate of the Pforzheim University, who received the award from Jozef Kabaň himself.
The young German designer also received an offer from Kabaň for an internship in Škoda Auto’s design studio.
“We are very pleased with this year’s interest in the conference and exhibition. Among visitors we had the opportunity to welcome guests from the USA, Korea, Canada, Belarus, even Egypt and other countries.
“We would like for Auto Design Prague to be in calendars of people from design studios, and also students as a location with a unique opportunity to not only see presentations of leading designers, but also the chance to establish new contacts,” says Radek Laube, Editor-in-Chief of Auto Design & Styling.
For more information visit www.auto-design-prague.cz.
(Image Courtesy: Auto Design Prague for Car Body Design)
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