Future is never real. It exists as an idea – in creative minds. And if you’re looking for young, particularly creative talent, you can’t ignore the “Transportation Design” course at Pforzheim University. The course, which is considered an international talent factory for the design industry, is the perfect starting point to explore the question of what the “Iconic Opel 2040” could look like. Students from the 4th and 6th semesters worked intensively on it for six months and brought their ideas from the first sketch to the three-dimensional model into the present.
“The results,” says Florian Theis, “are particularly valuable for us – they are created far away from the restrictions and blinders that come with many years of professional experience.” The XX-year-old heads Opel’s Advanced Design and creates visionary concept vehicles with his team like most recently the Opel Experimental. He himself studied in Pforzheim, and now he returned to the northern Black Forest as a guest together with his colleagues Karim Giordimaina and Malcolm Ward for the degree show, the final presentation.
Konstantin Sorge’s study invites you to linger.
The “Opel Pavilion” is intended to make city districts more attractive.
The mobile pavilion can be positioned flexibly to temporarily host events, markets or cultural activities.
What awaited the designers there goes beyond pure design studies. The students not only continued with topics such as automation, networking and electrification, they also incorporated fundamental socially relevant and philosophical considerations into their studies. With his interior concept, Konstantin Sorge, for example, has left behind the fact of simply creating a means of transport that takes people from A to B.
Make neighborhoods more attractive
With the “Opel Pavilion” he explores the idea of how you can increase the attractiveness of city districts by bringing people together. The pavilion can be flexibly placed in districts to temporarily host events, markets or cultural activities. The mobile “Opel Pavilion” is equipped with a centrally driven wheel, and its interior and exterior surfaces invite you to spend time there. “Its mobility allows it to promote dynamism and diversity in different parts of the city,” explains Konstantin Sorge.
“The results are particularly valuable for us – they are created far away from restrictions and blinders.”
– Florian Theis –
The road as a catwalk for automobiles – that was once upon a time. Nico Alber chose nature as the natural habitat for his “Opel Switch”. The vehicle remains in the forest between trees and waits to be explored. If it is found, it changes shape and invites you to get in. The passengers don’t know where the journey is going. No roof, no windshield – the Opel Switch steers autonomously to the next destination while the passengers experience nature up close.
Desirable two-seater
Alber was inspired by geocaching, a modern form of treasure hunting. With the “Opel Switch” the student wants to give an incentive to “escape the digital world and bring people back into nature.” And what is hidden must be worth finding: the flowing, minimalist lines do that Two-seater extremely desirable.
Ready for adventure: the “Opel Switch” from Nico Alber.
It drives passengers autonomously to the next location.
The minimalist two-seater is waiting to be found.
“All 21 theses,” says Kurt Beyer, professor in the “Transportation Design” course, “are outstanding – it was an all-round impressive degree show.” Whether it was aerodynamics, automotive design, ergonomics, materials science, representation techniques, computer programs or basic knowledge of branding, design and marketing – the young designers receive first-class training at the university in Pforzheim. “But it’s not enough to be a top designer and an outstanding illustrator, you have to be visionary and sense trends,” emphasizes the instructor. And this is exactly what the young designers have proven.
Team spirit is crucial
The ability to see a project like this through from the idea to implementation can only be achieved if you are highly motivated – “if you are passionate about the cause,” says Beyer. It was particularly exciting for him to observe how the students developed and how they dealt with feedback. Because: “Automotive development is not for lone wolves – it is a team sport.”
“It’s not enough to be a top designer and an outstanding illustrator, you have to be visionary and sense trends.”
– Kurt Beyer –
Beyer himself was chief designer at Opel for 13 years before he was appointed to the renowned training center in 2022. Here he wants to help young designers tackle what is, after all, “the biggest task since the invention of the automobile”: “Young people want to be connected to the world in the car. Reconciling this with sustainability and actions that conserve resources and keep our earth livable for future generations – that is the big task for the future.”
An Opel that wants to be explored
And the future is a space full of new possibilities. With his exterior study “Opel Explore”, Fabian Reiser wants to encourage young people – far away from their digital bubble – to cultivate human relationships and meaningful social interactions. The Explore invites you to experience adventures together; special trips are rewarded with stickers that appear on the outer skin.
Touch desired: The “Opel Explore” can be explored.
You can relax on the roof of the parked vehicle.
The net integrated into the body at the front takes up the design of the Opel Vizor.
Not only nature can be explored, but also the flat silhouette of the vehicle itself: you can take a seat on the roof of the “Explore”, as well as in the net at the front, the design of which takes up the shape of the brand-typical “Opel Vizor”. Fabian Reiser turns the fact that vehicles are stationary on average 95 percent of the time into a virtue – the car as an object on which you can spend time.
Answer to lack of space
With the “Opel Compact”, Adrian Schindler is looking for an answer to another spatial economic question that the car brings with it. Because: Not only does it stand most of the time, it takes up a lot of space – especially in limited public, urban space – an average of twelve square meters. His answer: The Opel Compact makes itself small. When it is turned off, the body collapses and the cockpit disappears.
Adrian Schindler’s interior study focuses on compact dimensions.
The “Opel Compact” makes itself small, the body collapses.
When idle, the cockpit disappears completely.
With the “Opel 432 HZ”, Vincent Piaskowski has dedicated himself to another topic that is increasingly of concern to automobile manufacturers who want to convince buyers not only with sensible arguments, but with a holistic experience: the UX, i.e. user experience, and the user interface, in short UI in the interior of a car is playing an increasingly important role. Vincent Piaskowski lets the driver experience sound and air. He calls the interior “A Portal Forward.”
Opel philosophy included
It is no coincidence that the results bear a clear Opel signature. The designers around Florian Theis closely accompanied the six-month process from the first sketches to the 3D models and conveyed the philosophy of Opel design, which is based on the pillars “Modern German”, “Detox” and “Greenovation”. The students of the 4th semester were also on site in Rüsselsheim for a week for a clay workshop.
Vincent Piaskowski calls the interior “A Portal Forward,” which allows the driver to experience sound and air.
“By taking part in this real project, the students gained valuable experience and insights into the Opel design world,” says Kurt Beyer. Two of the results will be rewarded with an internship: Nico Alber (“Opel Switch”) and Konstantin Sorge (“Opel Pavilion”) will gain experience in Opel design for several months.
Food for thought for ongoing projects
“Working with young people is enriching,” emphasizes advanced designer Florian Theis. The Opel design team would like to thank all students for their outstanding work: “We received exciting food for thought that will be incorporated into ongoing projects.”
Florian Theis (2nd from right), Malcolm Ward (3rd from right) and Karim Giordimaina (3rd from left) were guests at the degree show in Pforzheim.
The 4th semester students spent a week in Rüsselsheim at Opel Design to make clay models of their studies.
The Opel design team would like to thank all 21 students for their inspiring work.
6th semester Interior
Mara Baumann +++ Nicolas Lindsay +++ Fabian Reitz +++ Carolin Yumiko Weiss +++ Vicent Piaskowski +++ Zübeyde Bozkurt +++ Yankun Lu +++ Toang Dang +++ Adrian Schindler +++ Luisa Schwarzhaupt ++ + Konstantin Sorge
4th semester exterior
Fabian Reiser +++ Niklas Beckbissinger +++ Shubham Narola +++ Nico Alber +++ Daniil Zharov +++ Max Schultheiss +++ Güber Bölücbasi +++ Maximilian Billing +++ Simon Olescher +++ Marc Speier
March 2024
Photos: Opel, Pforzheim University