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PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) — If you drive through northeast Pasadena, you might not even notice it: General Motors’ new state-of-the-art advanced design studio.
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It’s where clever minds are working on the future of transportation in the region where the influences matter.
“We’re surrounded by the arts community, entertainment, fashion, technology, aerospace. There’s a lot of great reasons to be here in California and soak it all up,” said GM design director Brian Smith during a recent tour for ABC7. Design studios rarely offer those to the media.
Occupying a former warehouse space, the new GM Advanced Design Studio brings together the creative talents of designers, engineers, and crafters to create the concept cars meant to dazzle and amaze.
Like the recently revealed GMC Hummer X – foresight with four wheels.
“As an advanced design organization, we’re always looking 10 to 20 years in the future. We’ve got a pulse on the trends. We’re trying to look way ahead of our production counterparts back in Detroit,” noted Smith.
Sure, advanced computing and some AI rule auto design these days, but merely as a tool to help the educated minds at work here. They still build clay models, paired with 3D computer scans. The best of old and new.
The sprawling Pasadena complex is actually GM’s third advanced design studio in Southern California, the most recent one was in North Hollywood for many years. But compared to that, this one is much bigger, has much more technology, and is located in Pasadena. Which is very important to the auto design community.
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The city is the longtime home of Art Center College of Design, teaching future transportation designers in a comprehensive work space that mimics the real world.
There’s also nothing like the real-world experience of a project sponsored by Lexus: an advanced class of future designers had a chance to show off their ideas for a high-performance Lexus circa 2040. The closest thing to on-the-job training, if you will.
“We’re involved deeply with them through the last 14 weeks. It’s a 14-week class, and we’re here every week, giving feedback as if they were working in the studio,” said Ian Cartabiano, the course instructor.
An Art Center graduate himself, Cartabiano is also the president of CALTY, the Lexus and Toyota advanced design studio in Newport Beach. His students later got a tour of the CALTY studio, and got to share their work with senior executives at Lexus.
Just based on their creations from that intense project, these young minds look hireable right away to help steer the long-term future of what will be getting us around.
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