BMW Lovos Student Design Project

BMW Lovos Student Design Project

By Thami Masemola
September 30, 2009 10:45 PM
Filed Under: Artist Renderings, BMW, Concept Car, Design, German

Anne Forschner is a 24 year-old German lady who graduated with a Transportation Design degree from the prestigious Pforzheim University Germany in July this year. The project featured in these pages was her creation in collaboration with BMW who were the sponsors.

It's a concept called the Lovos (Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity) and its premise is to answer the questions: how many parts are used to build the exterior of a vehicle? Or how would a car look like if it were built using just one (recurring) piece?

A few answers can be provided depending on who is asked. But for this specific project the first answer is 260. That is the number of identical, movable and exchangeable parts found on the exterior surface. Like fish scales - which answers the second question - they open up and close to act like air brakes. At the same time they are also photovoltaic, meaning they produce a voltage when exposed to light, in this case sunlight. So they would follow the sun when the car is parked. Twelve of the pieces acting like wheel covers get sucked inside and form turbine-like shapes when the vehicle moves off.

As tough (and perhaps dangerous) as the Lovos looks outside, the project team says the inside is a complete contrast made with soft and comfortable materials.

In design terms the future of the automobile is yet unknown and therefore something like the BMW Lovos could be an option either as a whole or just in part. Anything is possible after seeing the Vision EfficientDynamics concept.

 

Source: cardesign.ru
Tags: BMW Lovos

Comments

Kepe
September 30, 2009 11:00 PM
Oh good god. I want to be an automotive designer as well. It doesn't matter what kind of utter bullshit I design, I'm going to graduate anyways. This project has no real-world application at all. I don't want a car that blocks my view when I brake. And how easy would it be for someone to steal those scales when the car is parked? And how much weight are they going to add with the mechanical system that makes them work? And because those scales aren't water proof, the car is going to need another exterior underneath them.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, worthless and ugly.

Xenicide
October 1, 2009 5:33 PM
What a bunch of narrow-minded, ignorant people you are. You missed the entire premise.

man1
September 30, 2009 11:17 PM
What new technology is this design showing off? What a panzy design, literally. Hahahaha

archytype
September 30, 2009 11:17 PM
Reminds me of the Al Monde du Arabe museum in Paris, the facade is ridiculously intricate but looks amazing. This car could only work as a 1-off showcase car but the price would be astronomical.

N20_Purge
September 30, 2009 11:47 PM
Looks like a robotic Hedgehog.

sideskraper
September 30, 2009 11:49 PM
Love it. The lines are amazing.

TheAlchemist
October 2, 2009 3:32 AM
What lines? The only ones I see are broken up by "fish scales"

BrianWCF
September 30, 2009 11:54 PM
Kepe, man1: Hmmm, you're looking for practical applications from a design project? That is like hiring a prostitute to play a game of chess. Like comparing art versus math. You're missing the point. C'mon have some vision. :D

Kepe
October 1, 2009 12:14 AM
So you are saying that design projects don't need to have anything to do with reality? Isn't that just a huge waste of money then?

I think a design project should provide a look in to how cars could look in the (near) future. They shouldn't be about crazy ideas of an 8-year-olds' fantasy car that is covered with sharp pointy things.

I didn't mention technology in my post. I understand that this is a design project, not a technology project. But still it has scales on it that need some sort of technology to operate them. And if they produce electricity, they need even more technology. Besides, those scales don't seem to have any electrical connectors to take the electricity created to a battery. And I think it would be a little dangerous if the electricity would be moved with those actuators that move the scales. So it's the same as if I drew a piece of crap on a paper and told everyone that this thing produces huge amounts of electricity and it will save the world. Because I have a vision of it.

I'm not asking a prostitute to play chess. I'm asking a prostitute to look like a human being and to give me some sex.


Edited by user on October 1, 2009 at 12:26 AM
man1
October 1, 2009 12:36 AM
I dont think BMW is in the business of Abstract Art!

Kepe
October 1, 2009 12:50 AM
I think these two represent proper design projects:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/109042218877/-audi-student-design-project-intelligent-emotion--future-mobility

http://www.worldcarfans.com/109082121188/student-design-aston-martin-volare-concept

They look like cars that could one day become reality. The Aston in a not so far away future.

sideskraper
October 1, 2009 12:53 AM
Concepts should be abstract. Unattainable. Wild. With a sense of identity.

This is all of those things. It is wild and abstract, yet there is a direct connection to the bmw of the past, present, and immediate future.

The turbine wheels especially do it for me.

Kepe
October 1, 2009 1:11 AM
Where is the BMW identity? I don't see anything else telling me it's a BMW besides the BMW logo on it. Who says concepts should be abstract? We live in a real world, we need real cars. Yes, a concept is something that doesn't need to go in to production. But a concept is supposed to show what to expect in the future.

scratchy996
October 1, 2009 1:39 AM
just forget it, Kepe, you'll never understand...

jerry05cod4
October 1, 2009 9:50 AM
The point of design study's like this is to think outside the box... the car or whatever transportation system you are designing should include inexistent technology... what if in the future electricity could be safely conducted without using wires, what if you no longer need batteries to store energy... think beyond your time. This kind of projects and thoughtful creative thinking is what leads to the creation of new technology and helps the human race keep advancing.

captwhizbang
September 30, 2009 11:56 PM
would be great if it reacted to being touched, sort of a self defense theft system, touch my car....lose a body part!

Albanmusliu
October 1, 2009 12:00 AM
Well first of all I just want to say cangrafulation on your university..... But if you trying to bring fishes on the autobahn or on rural street that is wrong.... I suggest you to go and design boats or yachts .... Where u can find yourself perspective .... I feel sorry for a BMW ...Goodluck

lambocop
October 1, 2009 12:38 AM
My questions is. This design practice/study or whatever it is, what aspect of car design is it trying to present solution to? fuel consumption, air flow, braking, cooling. This is the stupidest and ugliest design concept I've ever seen. tell a lot about who is calling the shots in BMW designs and why most their recent works stink

out4ride
October 1, 2009 12:53 AM
I know it's a concept but how do you clean the snow off of it?:) I got it. BMW you want a vision that would blow your mind how about making the flops open and close so fast like bee's wings so the car could fly. Now that's some vision. Or use the flops to distract the radar:) ok I got to stop couse more stupid ideas coming to my mind. On a serious note I know this is just someone trying to get a job at BMW well I say good luck. Never to much of creativity. Amen

Wickedated
October 1, 2009 12:55 AM
No wonder a woman designed it. There, I said it.

dnipete
October 1, 2009 2:42 AM
is this a car or a chicken?

scratchy996
October 1, 2009 3:27 AM
it's the Chickenwagen !

dbehmoaras
October 1, 2009 2:45 AM
Looks like a chicken. Hahahaha......chicken.

CDspeed
October 1, 2009 3:06 AM
There is really no point to any of this. It's a design study nothing serious. Although they should send the designer back to school it's not a car it's a lawn statue it belongs in a park not a parking lot.

scratchy996
October 1, 2009 3:24 AM
the whole point of a concept is to exaggerate certain features in order to draw attention. i bet this young lady will have a nice career. and maybe her idea will have practical applications. the SLR and Veyron already have air brakes that are highly effective at high speeds, maybe they will make a car with directional air brakes.

CDspeed
October 1, 2009 3:41 AM
@ scratchy996

Yes but a Veyron and SLR are among the fastest cars in the world , they almost need air brakes. And when I said there is no point I meant there is no point in worrying about a design study.

Dolomight 74-86
October 1, 2009 4:13 AM
Is this a car or am I having an acid trip? This thing is just too freaky to drive. I bet the designer of this car is a fan of modern art and powerful narcotics.

MadAboutCars
October 1, 2009 6:00 AM
Take a break guys, it IS a concept. It isn't feasible because it would take hours to clean

madofmazda
October 1, 2009 7:43 AM
I think this concept car can be used in next TRANSFORMER movie..lol.. I Like the theory and basic of this concept car...the idea is very bright,useful & original. But they need a hard work about design art for real-world application, how to blend art & math very well together become a energy saver car in nice look, not scary. I think we may used the idea for another application for the future.. :)

jerry05cod4
October 1, 2009 9:38 AM
wow weird, improbable, scary... some of the words that come to mind, but hey, maybe she's a genius who's just ahead of our time.

ShinyG
October 1, 2009 9:53 AM
This is the moment people will start missing Bangle!

theoldman
October 1, 2009 10:47 AM
as a piece of aesthetical design, I hail it to the skies: few CONCEPTS, let alone cars, can manage to look that breathtaking and radical

like many people including Kepe suggested, there are practicality issues..

but concepts aren't designed for practicality.. they're designed for passion.. like this one


Edited by user on October 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM
m4rtins
October 1, 2009 12:58 PM
Concepts allow the designers 'free thinking' without the constraints of packaging, operation, safety, technology or service. Concepts as a whole tend not to make it to production, but features or details will such as future headlamp shapes, complex surfaces, interior themes etc.

This concept is not from an automotive OEM, but from a student. These are considered even more 'free thinking' and are used to understand student thought processes, and which students have the necessary quirky and conceptual styling ideas to generate future vehicles and lead design studios.

Engineers think about the feasibility of real vehicles, concept designers think about arty farty felt tip fairy stuff and which pair of glasses to wear to work each day......

racsozelev
October 1, 2009 2:44 PM
reminds my of my cat as she sees my neighbour´s dog. it works on her, but i don´t see the use here.... just for the picture.

radmeister
October 1, 2009 6:18 PM
You guys are hilarious, first of all i think the entire point of this car is to make people think WOW. Whether it made you think wow this is cool, or wow this is ugly it still invoked some emotion in you. You completely knock this off as a joke and think oh no there is no practical use out of anything here, yet you miss something very critical, photoelectric cell/panels should be roughly all the same size and shape to cut down manufacturing costs and also panel efficiency. One small stone chip and that panel is dead. So the idea behind this is how to make sexy flowing car out of a shell made out of multiple pieces of the same shape and size. The rest is built around that design purpose, to make it a design concept not a production concept. I personally think it's great and took this girl a lot of time and headaches on what shape these scales should have, and then try to put them together to shape a classic bmw. It's a great success, invoked emotion as art is supposed to and has a hidden practical design test. Wish this girl much success which i am sure she will have.

TheAlchemist
October 2, 2009 3:33 AM
Do the "fish scales" help it move smoothly through the water?

MusTang
October 2, 2009 3:18 PM
This is unreal car or whatever it is and always will But looks GREAT, i have never thought that car can be like this (hedghog) LOL

alessandro
October 2, 2009 6:55 PM
An attempt to "brush up" the BMW design.

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