Concept cars are cool. Even if you aren’t a particularly automotive-brained individual, there’s usually something you can take away from them. Whether it’s an aesthetic or different way of looking at vehicles, the ideas behind concept cars are arguably more important than the cars themselves. Traditionally, BMW’s concepts leave us starstruck, usually by way of some ethereal roadster or low-slung coupe. Today, we’re looking at something altogether different. And, in fact, different than almost anything else BMW or Designworks has ever divulged to us: the Dwell Box Concept.
The Dwell Box Concept
Designworks, BMW’s in-house design studio, draws inspiration from everywhere to deliver compelling designs. Certainly, not everything the studio works on has to be something ready for production. There’s perhaps no better example than the Dwell Box concept. The “living space on wheels” served as a design study inspired by the types of housing projects that cropped up in the Venice area after the turn of the millennium. “Not only from a philosophical perspective, but also from the material perspective,” a Designworks spokesperson said while introducing the concept.
The wild Dwell Box concept inspired another unorthodox BMW model: the BMW i3. One of our long-time favorites here at BMWBLOG, the little car’s widespread use of sustainable materials — and some of the car’s body lines — stem from the Dwell Box concept. “What if we have corrugated steel on the on the side, or we have wooden panels,” the spokesperson continued. “It kind of gave us that idea that kind of influenced the design of the i3,” he says. And it’s probably pretty clear if you’re familiar with the i3. The huge windshield and “bubble car” lend it a distinct resemblance. Particularly from the front fenders forward — sans the aggressive flare — the Dwell Concept and i3 could almost be brothers. But even the car’s curved, bubbled-out rear end is almost i3-esque.
Of course, the Dwell Box took the sustainability and naturalness focus to an entirely different level than the BMW i3 did. The i3’s extreme focus on sustainability was just one of the things that made it stand out from the crowd. The Dwell Box was even more extreme, with the exterior materials developing patina over time. Of course, it’s easy to leave details like that in a concept car, rather than something actually facing the public. The design study was actually built, and in California no less. “It’s more architecture on wheels, maybe, than car design as we as we knew it back then,” the spokesperson told us. That said, its influence on the i3 can’t be understated. “The i3 probably would not have become such an innovative, radical design without this input.”
[Lead photo courtesy of Designworks]
