
Juliane Blasi
sports car designer
German-born Juliane Blasi knew she wanted to design cars since high school. Pursuing her passion, she landed a job at BMW. And, won a contest to design its next roadster just a couple years later ~ the first woman in the company's history to earn that privilege.
Together with Nadya Arnaout {a colleague at BMW's California Designworks studio}, Juliane created BMW's first hardtop convertible. Upon its release in 2009, the 89 Z4 was an instant hit...a car so macho ~ said one male reviewer ~ that when you drive it "you hear girls start questioning their choice of boyfriend." The industry accolades are proof that sex has nothing to do with car design. Juliane hopes they've laid a foundation for others to follow. "I can work well with women," she says, "and I would like to do it more often."
breaking barriers | first woman to design exterior of BMW sports car
a sexy car | BMW's 89 Z4 roadster ~ firm's first hardtop convertible
teamwork | collaborated with interior designer Nadya Arnaout + design engineers
minimalist style | "no jewelry, glitter of handbags ~ less is more"
futuristic outlook | after success of Z4 tapped to design BMW Vision ConnectedDrive concept car
2003 | graduated from design school and began working for BMW
2005 | won contest to design second generation of BMW's Z4 roadster
2009 | BMW Z4 introduced to accolades + awards
from | to
design student with an interest in vehicles | a top designer for one of the premier carmakers in the world
born on
1977
born in
Germany
citizen of
Germany
lives in
Munich, Germany
educated at
Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences in Design, Technology and Business
~ Pforzheim, Germany | Master from Transportation Design | 2003 ~
loved studying
art
design
mother of
1 son
worked alongside
Nadya Arnaout
~ BMW award-winning interior designer ~
inspired by
art
music
~ played Metallica album while creating Z4 ~
in her spare time
skiing
mountain biking
image credits
collapse bio bits
"For the designer it is existentially important to get different effects, to travel, to see other things. Creativity needs width."
Female Design | march 2009
"My desire was to create something like a living sculpture, with sharp lines and smooth surfaces. The main inspiration was an athletic body in which we find exactly this interaction. I can not say whether it was the male or female body ... but I wanted the car to awaken human emotions."
Female Design | march 2009
"Everyone has a sense of aesthetics. If you look at a work of art, whether it is an abstract sculpture or concrete figure, one feels something."
Female Design | march 2009
"When I saw her interior design, I immediately looked for ways to make it all into one. Men are probably more focused on their own 'thing'. Women work naturally fast together."
Interview BMWs Z4 Designers | may 2009
"I'm not as creative every day. I sometimes think, 'it's on the tip of my pencil, but it's not coming out' ... What I have learned that I should not give up at those times... You have to deliberately go to work without expecting results."
Interview with BMW's Z4 Designers | may 2009
"If you look at [a] car you should not be able to see whether it was designed by a woman or a man."
BMW Car Designers: Episode 2 | december 2009
for further reading about Juliane Blasi:
curated with care by Kathleen Murray {september 2014}
BMW Z4
Juliane designed the next generation BMW Z4 roadster.
David Villarreal Fernandez | CC by-sa 2.0
Juliane Blasi pens the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Concept
Juliane designing the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive concept car.
photos courtesy of BMW
NYT interviews the BMW Z4 Designers: Juliane Blasi and Nadya Arnaout
Juliane and Nadya Arnaout worked together to design the BMW's latest Z4 roadster. Juliane designed the exterior and Nadya handled the interior. The two initially met while working for BMW Designworks in California. Both decided to enter the internal contest with their ideas and won.
courtesy of BMW