 |
Bentley Design Director Dirk Van Braeckel Follows in Famous FootstepsDirk van Braeckel, director of design at Bentley Motors, has been awarded the prestigious European Automotive Design Award by Designers (Europe), in partnership with FEBIAC, the Belgian automotive industry association.
Previous winners of the award, which honours excellence and originality in automotive design, include Giorgietto Giugiaro in 2004 and Sergio Pininfarina in 2006.
Belgian-born Dirk van Braeckel, who cites cubist architecture, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and classic cars of the '60s and '70s among his inspirations, studied electrical engineering at technical school in his home town of Deinze.
He started work as a trainee designer at the Cologne design studio of Ford, which sponsored him to study automotive design at London's Royal College of Art.
After graduation he spent ten years with Audi's exterior design team before moving to Skoda in 1993.
His influence came at a pivotal time for the brand and under his direction the company produced several key models, including the Octavia and Fabia.
As the Design Director of Bentley, Dirk van Braeckel was responsible for the Bentley Continental GT, a sleek, 560PS 2+2 coupe that was launched in 2003 and swiftly re-established Bentley at the pinnacle of hand-crafted grand tourers.
more: Bentley Design Director Dirk Van Braeckel Follows in Famous Footsteps
January 24, 2008 | Viewed 24,444 time(s)
|
|
