Pforzheim University Spring Degree Show 2005

The Pforzheim Transportation Design courses lead to BA and MA degrees. The exhibition included work from graduating Diploma and Masters students, exterior and interior projects by the 5th and 7th semester students, as well as work from students in the earlier stages of the diploma and masters courses. The graduating Diploma students were Roberto Kühn, Franco Luciano and Philipp Römers. The graduating Masters students were Viktor Bär, Xavier Bouchan Osornio, Benjamin Eyers, Chung-Won Kim, and Branislav Mauks.

Projects by the graduating Diploma students (four year course) included:

Vision Alpine
Roberto Kühn

The Vision Alpine is a revival of the historical brand Alpine. The concept for a new family of vehicles should demonstrate how Alpine could appear in the future and should recall the fascination of the Berlinette A110, taking for this reason the idea of pure driving pleasure and revitalizing it.

Concept G - The future of Golf
Philipp Römers

Concept G is an answer to the question, of what should follow the Beetle and Golf as the typical volume cars of the Volkswagen brand. Equipped with a hybrid-electric power train under the rear seats, the front part of the vehicle provides additional space which can be used for storage or as extension of the interior. The large glassy front hood panel opens to allow loading of long objects. The conventional dashboard is replaced by controls attached to the seats. The roundish forms at the front should remind from a distance of the Beetle, while the rear draws on the heritage of the Golf.

Maserati 322 CM
Franco Luciani

A reinterpretation of a 2+2 Gran Tourismo. The Maserati brand was chosen out of deep admiration for one of the oldest and most unique manufacturers of Italy. The diploma project looks for an answer to the question, what Maserati was in the past, what the brand symbolizes today, and which directions it could take in the future.

Projects by the graduating Masters students (two year postgraduate course) included:

CSR - Clubsport Racer
Chung-Won Kim

How it would appear, if Mercedes-Benz, a company which has written motorsports history from the very beginning, were to operate its own race series for motorsports and Mercedes fans? What would a club-sports vehicle look? How could a modern race vehicle also recall the legendary 'Silberpfeil' racers. This thesis project sought to give shape to the answer to this question.

Ford sports-limousine
Branislav Mauks

The project proposes a new aesthetic design language for the near-future of Ford design. It is about a new development of the current, already innovative DNA of Ford Design, a car with strong forms and volumes. The vehicle is a five door limousine with a sporty character, which could be placed into the upper-middle class segment.

Renault Trafic
Xavier Bouchan Osornio

The concept of the Renault Trafic of the future suggests a possible development within three generations. While retaining the overall proportions of a van, this cargo version of the Trafic refers to aerodynamics in its concept, which emphasises the sporting character of this transporter. The headlights and the unusual features of the door-section express dynamics and sportiness.

First-semester Masters students presented their project entitled 'My favourite car movie - the Remix'. The students were to consider a film where an automobile plays a prominent role. The assignment was to design the exterior of a vehicle for an imaginary movie remake, with a valid design for today or the future. Second semester Masters students presented both exterior and interior proposals on this theme.