Benjamin Bowden
Benjamin George Bowden (born June 3, 1906 in North Kensington , London , † March 6, 1998 in Lake Worth , Florida ) was a British-American industrial designer. He was mainly active in automotive design, but owes his fame primarily to a bicycle he designed: the Spacelander.
Bowden was chief body designer for the Humber car brand in the 1930s . Inspired by a meeting with Raymond Loewy , he decided to leave the conservative British auto industry. Bowden was enthusiastic about both the design and the way Loewy's studio worked, as well as the prices Loewy charged its customers. First plans for independence failed when the Second World War broke out, and Bowden was now designing war-essential goods for Humber. In the 1940s, he went into business for himself in Leamington Spa in the West Midlands - the heart of the British auto industry - and opened one of the first design studios for industrial design.
Bowden designed the Healey sports car as a designer from 1946 to 1952 . Together with racing car driver Donald Healey and engineer Achille Sampietro , he decided to build small British sports cars. All three already knew each other from Humber. And although they predicted a great future for the type of car, they didn't trust the conservative British auto industry to build such a car. The Healey 2.4 was the first model to cause some public excitement. According to legend, Bowden created the first full-size drawings for the car on his living room wall in Coventry. Healey won several car races with this car in 1947 and 1948, including the Mille Miglia . In the following years, more Healeys were created, which finally laid the foundation for the large-scale production vehicle Austin Healey . For the British government he designed an armored car that was used by George VI. and Winston Churchill was used. After Bowden moved to Winston, Ontario in 1952 , he was involved in the design of the Ford Thunderbird . He developed the modular design of the Willys Jeep.
Bowden designed the Spacelander bicycle in 1946 as a contribution to the major London exhibition Britain Can Make It at the Victoria and Albert Museum . Bowden broke the previous tradition of bicycle building for the bicycle. Instead of different tubes that were welded together, the Spacelander was created from two pressed steel frames that are connected to form a hollow body. The 1946 model contained an electric motor that collected energy on downhill routes and when braking, which the driver could then use uphill. The battery in the bike also supplied light, a horn and a built-in radio with electricity. Bicycle manufacturers at the time considered the device too exotic and didn't want to build it. The press steel process presented by Bowden was later used by Honda for its mopeds and Piaggio for its Vespas, both of which established a mass market for inexpensive scooters.
It wasn't until 1960 that the bicycle went into production in the United States in a small series. The bike did without the electric motor, but the lights and horn were still battery-powered. The Spacelander was made of fiberglass instead of steel, but still weighed over 20 kilograms. Instead of the revolutionary drive concept with a rigid shaft, the Spacelander used a conventional chain drive. The model appeared in seven color variants. With 522 copies sold, however, it hardly found buyers and the producer went bankrupt. Although Bowden achieved numerous successes in his American career, he is said to have never got over the failure of the Spacelander internally.
Not a single Spacelander bicycle was found for the Make or Break exhibition at the Royal College of Art in 1986 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Britain Can Make It . The model exhibited there had to be redeveloped based on photos. It wasn't until the turn of the millennium that the bicycle began to arouse interest and developed into a design classic. By the late 1990s, prices for a single Spacelander had risen to $ 15,000. A bicycle has been on display in the Brooklyn Museum's permanent exhibition since 2011 .
In addition to cars and bicycles, Bowden worked on many other industrial design objects, including gasoline pumps and kitchen fittings. At the end of his career he designed tanks for General Dynamics . In 1986, at the age of 79, he left his job and moved to Florida.
Bowden had trained as a violinist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was supposed to be a concert musician. By mistake, he got a place at Regent Street Polytechnic , and since he also had a strong technical interest, he accepted it. He completed his training in the 1920s with a London coachbuilder.
Remarks
- ^ A b c d Anonymous: Benjamin Bowden, 91, Auto and Bicycle Designer , New York Times, March 23, 1998
- ↑ a b c Clarke p. 227
- ↑ a b c d e f Giles Chapman: Obituary: Ben Bowden , The Independent March 13, 1998
literature
- Paul Clark: Ben Bowden's 'Bicycle of the Future', 1946 , Journal of Design History, Vol. 5, No. 3 (1992), pp. 227-235
Web links
- Brooklyn Museum: Spacelander Bicycle
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bowden, Benjamin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bowden, Benjamin George |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British-American industrial designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 3, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | North Kensington , London |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 6, 1998 |
| Place of death | Lake Worth , Florida |