May 09 2011
Dirk van Braeckel
Renowned Belgian Car Designer, Head of Design at Bentley Motors
Dirk van Braeckel is best-known as the Design Director of Bentley Motors. Under his direction the talented design team both honoured Bentley design tradition and provided a confident new design language for the 21st century. In 2007, he was awarded the laureate of Antwerp’s Christophe Plantin Prize, which honours Belgian citizens whose cultural, artistic or scientific activities contribute to the country’s prestige abroad. In 2008 he was awarded the European Automotive Design Award by Designers (Europe), which he sees as an endorsement of his vision for Bentley to create the ultimate in desirability – a classic of the future.
“Dirk van Braeckel creates the ultimate in desirability”
Dirk van Braeckel studied at one of the first specialist car design schools, the Royal College of Art. His career started as an apprentice at Ford, then in 1984 moved to the Volkswagen Group (VAG), were he worked for Audi. Then in 1993 the then boss of VAG, Ferdinand Piëch, made him the chief designer for Skoda. He then went about completely redesigning the entire range for Skoda. In 1998 he became the chief designer for another VAG brand, Bentley. His brief was to create a second-car line that could sell in higher volumes than the $240,000 Bentley Arnage limo. He created the Bentley Continental GT, which in 2004 sold 5,983 units, exceeding forecasts by 62%.[/expand]
Dirk van Braeckel is a widely respected designer who has re-established Bentley at the pinnacle of hand-crafted grand tourers. Under his direction at Skoda, he produced several key models, including the Octavia and Fabia. He cites cubist architecture, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and classic cars of the ’60s and ’70s among his inspirations and provides fascinating insights into his visions for the cars of the future, with his truly eye-catching designs.[/expand]
Dirk van Braeckel honours the marque traditions whilst looking to the future and his invaluable and expertly delivered presentations give insights from his unique perspective. This designer is sure to surprise.[/expand]
Watch a video presentation of Dirk van Braeckel
Topics
Modern Design
Eye-Catching Designs
My Visions
The Motor Industry
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