Harm Lagaay

Harm Lagaay at the Nürburgring, 2011

Harm Lagaay in the Porsche Design Center, 2004

Harm Lagaay (born December 28, 1946 in The Hague , Netherlands) is an automobile designer and has influenced the design of many successful vehicles in the course of his professional career.

Life

Harm Lagaay's professional career began in 1967 in Soest (Netherlands) at the Olyslager company. In 1968 Lagaay moved to the car manufacturer Simca . From 1971 he worked in the design department of Porsche in Weissach and helped design the 911 , 924 and 928 models .

After six years he became head of the design department at Ford in Cologne. Several models there, such as the Escort and Sierra , bore his signature. In 1985 he moved to BMW Technik GmbH , where he became chief designer. One of the best-known projects from this period is the BMW Z1 Roadster presented at the IAA in 1987 .

From 1989 until his retirement on July 1, 2004, he was head of the Porsche design department in Weissach . In addition to the Porsche Panamericana and Porsche 989 studies , the series models Porsche Boxster , Porsche Cayman , Carrera GT , Cayenne and the 911 (model series 964 , 993 and 996 ) were decisively stylistically defined by him. The Type 996 came under fire: Lagaay took over the front section of the Boxster, and the headlights were criticized by fans as " fried eggs ". Lagaay remedied this flaw with a facelift. His last work was the Porsche 911 of the 997 model range , which was sold from 2004 to 2012.

Michael Mauer , who was previously chief designer at Saab , has continued his work since November 1, 2004 .

Lagaay's design philosophy

Lagaay's last designs include the S-curve on the Porsche Cayenne, 2004

In an interview, Harm Lagaay discussed the curve shown as part of his design philosophy like this:

“We call this S-curve an 'S-stroke'. It has different functions. He bridged. It emphasizes something that we want to express with the entire shape of the Porsche 996 , and that is a very strong convex-concave game. The S-beat consists of a convex part that merges into a concave one. From the cowl, it initially runs over the valley in a convex shape, crosses the valley and merges into the concave. The fascinating thing about it is that once you have established this line, where it meanders through this mountain and valley, that it actually runs! This S is not symmetrical at all. Before it hits the edge of the cowl, the S makes a small arc at the last moment.

The NURBS curve known from computer design is emotionally intangible, while every line on a car is a subjective story. A sphere, a cylinder and a cone are objectively assessable, i.e. not dependent on taste. You can't say: I don't like the ball or the cylinder. But as soon as you start to let geometric shapes flow into one another, certain subjective sensations arise. All of a sudden you can say: I don't like the way these shapes merge here. "

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heise - website: Porsche: Design boss Harm Lagaay says goodbye. From: www.heise.de , May 10, 2004, accessed on February 13, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Dr. Ing.hc F. Porsche AG: One icon, four designers. From: newsroom.porsche.com , June 4, 2014, accessed June 16, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Interview for Production Partner magazine , issue 5/2004