Mercedes-Benz's design chief says vehicles are becoming 'smart homes' on wheels
Gorden Wagener is obsessed with speed.
The veteran auto designer was standing next to a rendering of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Places towers in downtown Miami, carefully retracing the lines of the balconies that swirled around the altitudinous structure.
"You can see the speed ... it's like an automobile fender," Wagener, the chief design officer for Mercedes-Benz, said. "The flow of the lines go around the building ... accelerates it. Geometry is timeless."
As the German automaker expands its product portfolio to luxury real estate, Wagener's resume grows too: From cars and SUVs to go-fast boats, the prodigious designer is now in charge of imbuing the brand's design "language" into living spaces for hundreds of residents. It's a natural evolution of the brand, Wagener said, adding that Mercedes is building an "ecosystem" for customers.
Its not alone: competitors Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin have also partnered with developers to build branded residential complexes in the Miami area, a gamble automakers are willing to take to attract new customers.
A rendering of the Mercedes-Benz Places project in Dubai. Construction of the 65-story luxury tower will be complete by 2026. Mercedes-Benz
Wagener recently spoke to ABC News about the Miami project, how vehicles are becoming "smart homes" and why his successor may be a robot.
The interview below has been edited for clarity.
Q: You're overseeing the design for the company's next big undertaking -- Mercedes-Benz Places, with locations in Dubai and Miami. Talk about the automotive nods in the design for the Miami location, which the company unveiled last month.
A: Dubai was very automotive, very full of speed. The Miami building has speed too but in a different way. You see the speed in the balconies, going around and around, it's kind of endless. The movement doesn't stop. The building is also silver, so it's very Mercedes. The balconies are like an automobile fender.
Mercedes-Benz Places is elevating our brand, our design. How can we infuse our style into the building? We're aiming for an ecosystem -- the car and the home.