Design as its own entity

Watching the Abstract episode of Ralph Gilles automobile designs was fascinating to watch. This episode was by far my favourite episode to date. I always think that the architecture of cars has never really changed much - a car always has the doors, the hood, the trunk and the exterior that ties it all together. However, Gilles manages to give cars characters when designing for automobiles. In the episode the director pans through sketches of the Chrysler 300 before showing Gilles squatting down next to the bold grills of the car. Gilles plays with proportions of the Chrysler 300 by giving the car a long hood accentuated by its heavy metal grills and wide headlights, while having a short trunk. It boasts power and speed and was eventually adopted by the Hip Hop crowd. I think Gilles always manages to add a unique flair to give cars a distinctive look.

Though I am not from an immigrant family in the United States or Montreal, I strongly relate with Gilles experiences with his father. With external pressure from his father to be an engineer and to succeed as a leader, the episode features Gilles wanting to make his father proud as a designer. He mentions that his father’s approval meant a lot to him and he was struck with sadness when his father passed at the peak of his career and family life. I think that pursuing design is sometimes frowned upon amongst companies and sometimes even family members who may think design is not as prestigious as the technicality of engineering. Evidently, during the merger of Chrysler and Mercedes, when Gilles was placed as head of engineering instead of head of design he expresses instant disgust. He acknowledges within this moment that design is not valued, but rather a function of engineering. During this point of the episode, I totally empathize with Gilles and it definitely reminded me of how we see this in reality as well. With smaller companies not prioritizing design, but rather viewing design as an entity that is slapped on at the end of a finished product. I admire Gilles' determinist attitude towards reviving the Chrysler brand and making design important as he refused to leave until Chrysler went bust.

Gilles channels this determinist attitude in every car that he produces. Additionally, he melds this die-hard attitude with emotion, as he describes “the best designs are emotional forever”. This reminded me of the Tinker Hatfield Abstract episode as Hatfield says “good designs say something”. In every creation that Gilles produces, he hopes to envision what consumers would want in the next 10 years. Throughout the episode, there are snippets of his process of designing an autonomous car. While he has his doubts about taking away the ability for humans to drive, Gilles is intentional about wanting to produce an autonomous car that represents coziness and yet is futuristic. Through its smoothed out curves, light blue hum of the light and white interior, Gilles’ humility shines through as he congratulates his coworkers for the multiple iterations of the car.

In many ways, this episode has allowed me to have a newfound appreciation for the design of automobiles. Like other designers, Gilles has successfully been able to make me feel intimidated by the grills of a Chrysler 300 and personalities of other cars, but also an admiration for his unwavering love for design.