BMW GINA

Although I'm not a huge fan of BMW and I find their designs crude and repetitive, a friend of mine made me do a double take when he mentioned a green car by BMW. To prove him wrong, I wanted to see if this was true. Fortunately for him it was, and I like BMW now.

Last week the crude car company unveiled their new model. GINA Light Visionary. Apparently this concept has been highly anticipated and it's concept is extremely original and would transform the traditional boundaries of car design. GINA, which stands for Geometry and Functions In "N" Adaptations (they left out the F in GINA), is made out of cloth. To be more precise, it has a seamless fabric polyurethane-coated Lycra sking which is pulled taut around the metal frames and carbon fibre wires. This makes it a sustainable, eco-friendly design as it requires far less energy to produce in comparison to the traditional BMW models. It's weight is also significantly reduced which makes it fuel-efficient.




Most imprtantly though, I would like to talk about the detailing of this model. The doors open like a Lambo and create beautiful rippled creases, however when it's closed it is completely smooth. You can acces the engine through a slit on the hood. The fabric is opaque translucent so the taillights shine through and a motor pulls back the fabric to expose the headlights. The interior is as equally sophisticated. The steering wheel and gauges swing into place and the headrest rises from the seat once the driver is seated, making it easier to get in and out of the car. Although GINA is built on a space frame that provides all the safety of a conventional car people may not embrace the idea of riding a fabric bodied car. I would venture to say that this car has the majority of a full race cage under the fabric. Meaning that it is probably already safer than whatever we presently drive.




If you are still not convinced by the design of this car then I highly recommend you watch the promotional video. The link is below. I for one can't wait to see what else the designers can come up with. Once someone dares to perfect an unconventional and unique idea, other geniuses will get inspired and our cars could actually change for the better if Zaha Hadid manages to stay out of it.


BMW Promotional Video