GM CO.
DESIGN
DYNAMICS
out of the box. Take the Chevy
Volt, the advanced hybrid
battery-powered car that has
won accolades and awards for its
design, but almost didn’t happen.
It took the persistence of one
top executive to convince the
company’s board that the idea
made financial sense.
These are the kinds of challenges
the Big Three U.S. automakers
have struggled to meet for decades.
The flying cars promised more
than half a century ago remain far
from dealers’ lots, but with their
companies’ futures anything but
certain, designers at GM, Ford
and Chrysler now seem to feel
a new urgency as they grapple
with new material compositions,
shifting transportation needs and,
not least, the legacies of their
predecessors, which loom large
around them as they work to make
Americans fall back in love with
the automobile.
Meanwhile, GM designers
are still working out of a oncefuturistic Eero Saarinen building
that was completed during Earl’s
tenure. Even if Dean never makes
it to Disney World, the suspended
staircase and jet-aerated pond
in the lobby lend the design
compound a distinct whiff of
HUFFINGTON
06.24.12
Tomorrowland, or
maybe the Pirates of
the Caribbean ride.
The design center’s retro
flavor belies its high-tech work
systems. An attached wind tunnel
helps designers ensure that their
clay models remain not just
dynamic, but aerodynamic. GM’s
head of global design, Ed Welburn,
runs conference calls with staffers
beamed onto giant screens from
eight countries.
GM’s Director
of Advanced
Design, Clay
Dean, with
the Chevrolet
Code 130 R
concept car.