The Philosophy of F. A. Porsche (2024)

It’s not always easy to bear the name Porsche—consider the Porsche Design Group, for example. The name inevitably elicits questions: Is it the design department of the company? Is it where Porsche models are designed? The answers: No and no. Does the Design Studio have anything at all to do with Porsche in Zuffenhausen? But of course! Are the studio and the main company part of the same entity? Now, yes. Before further confusion ensues, it’s best to go back and tell the story from the start. That’s how Roland Heiler sees it, at any rate. The fifty-eight-year-old managing director of the studio climbs the rooftop terrace of the new building—a structure known internally as “the tower.” “Tower” is perhaps a somewhat overstated term for a building with a mere three stories under its roof. But those three stories are in Zell am See—and there, in the picturesque Pinzgau region, itdoes stand out.

From the rooftop, Heiler points northward to a group of buildings that almost constitute a small village of their own. “That’s Schüttgut, the Austrian home of thePorsche family. That’s where Ferdinand Alexander Porsche grew up,” he says. This historical and geographical link explains why the grandson of Beetle designer Ferdinand Porsche located his design agency not in Stuttgart or anywhere else, but here in the alpine countryside: it’s where his roots were. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was the design director for the family company Porsche when, in the early 1960s, he designed a car that instantaneously catapulted him tothe pinnacle of the design world: the Porsche 911, an icon among sports cars. He created many race car designs as well. When it became clear that his father Ferry was going to convert the company into a public corporation, it was his son’s cue to leave the company.

In 1972, Ferdinand A. Porsche struck out on his own, and the designer naturally stayed within his métier. Hisfirst job was a family affair: “F. A.,” as he is still known in-house, was charged with designing awatch for Porsche AG. It was intended as an original and premium-quality gift for esteemed employees and select customers. The company guaranteed a minimum order quantity, and Ferdinand Alexander pulled off another stroke of product-design genius: the Chronograph I was the first watch with a black case and black dial. The reason was neither whimsical nor aesthetic innature; rather, Porsche took his inspiration from the instruments in race cars and airplanes, which are embedded in black co*ckpit landscapes because the black swallows the irritating reflections ofthe instrument dials. “It didn’t hurt, of course, thatthe trend towards black was in the air at the time,” says Heiler. “After 1972, forexample, the trim and window surrounds in the Porsche911 were nolonger in chrome, but painted matte black. And Ferdinand A. Porsche, as head designer, initiated thatidea himself.”

With the Chronograph I, Porsche set the standard for his studio: the agency’s founding object became a bestseller and remains so to this day. And it became asymbol for the design principle of the studio: first and foremost, the design must serve the function—a design philosophy that has found its embodiment in Heiler. And it’s no wonder, for he’s a dyed-in-the-wool Porsche man too: apprenticeship as a technical draftsman in Zuffenhausen, university at London’s renowned Royal College of Art, his return to Porsche as a junior designer (“at first they had me drawing exhaust pipes and spoilers”), and finally director of the Porsche Styling Studio in California. Then came the moment in2004 when F. A. stepped back from the daily operations of his agency. The head office in Zuffenhausen did not want a studio with the family name to fall into unknown hands. Porsche AG took on two-thirds of the shares and ordered Heiler back from California to Zell am See.

Officially, the design studio’s name is “Studio F. A. Porsche.” The name has a twofold purpose: to emphasize its independence from Porsche AG while atthe same time preventing mix-ups. The Studio is not synonymous with Porsche Design. That, after all, is thename of the brand for premium lifestyle products beyond the world of cars. Porsche Design accounts for roughly thirtypercent of the Studio’s activities. The lion’s share of the Studio’s business, however, is made up bydesign jobs for industrial firms that have nothing to dowith the manufacturer Porsche or the automotive sphere. For example, there are the new business class seats in Cathay Pacific’s A350-1000 aircraft, which convert into fully flat beds at the touch ofa button. Orthe one-of-a-kind E-Piano from Alpha Pianos, with the design aesthetic of a classic concert grand.

There are not many product categories that have not been shaped, in some form or another, by theStudio inits forty-five years in business: glasses, writing utensils, furniture—even trams. “We’ve also developed paint spray guns and a capsule-filling machine for a pharmaceutical company,” says Christian Schwamkrug, design director and deputy managing director. When he begins to name some examples ofthe Studio’s design philosophy, the fifty-nine-year-old can hardly contain himself: he speaks of classics like the interchangeable-lens sunglasses, which are not only visibly striking but also practical and flexible. Andhe gushes about appliances whose brushed aluminum surfaces defined kitchen design for two decades.

Schwamkrug takes an object from the display case inthe showroom. “This pen shows how we think and design.” At first glance: an exquisitely crafted stainless steel pen with fine horizontal grooves. “But of course,” says the design chief with atwinkle in his eye, “the grooves are not just decoration. They are the visible portion of a laser-engraved meander pattern that rings the shaft of the pen. When pressed, it contracts and triggers the mechanism that extends and retracts the tip. Every element has afunction, and that function isalways paramount. In other words, the reason for the structure is functional rather than decorative. It’s adesign driven by the engineering impulse.”

The same applies to new products for entertainment and communication. A typical example is the 911Soundbar, a sound system for the living room whose resonance body is the rear silencer from the Porsche 911 GT3. Another example of the company creed inaction is the Porsche Design Huawei Mate9 luxury smartphone. It unites brilliant performance with technical innovations and unmistakable aesthetics. Thus does the elegant device meet the exacting standards that the denizens of Zell demand of electronic products—and it raises the bar for further products inthe pipeline.

Among the latest activities of the Studio are projects ofa completely different dimension: the Porsche Design Towers, high-tech residential towers whose luxurious interiors are comprised entirely of Studio products—naturally, as always, subject to the imperative of functionality. The Porsche Design Tower in Miami is nearly finished. “It will be the first skyscraper in which one can bring one’s car up to the sixtieth floor and park itin theapartment,” says Schwamkrug. TheStudio also worked on the exterior of the Tower. The recessed and partially glazed balconies, for example, are designed toprotect the building from theimpact of the Atlantic Ocean and hark back to ideas hatched in Pinzgau. And Miami is only the beginning. The first European Porsche Design Tower is slated for completion in Frankfurt am Main in 2018, and further residential towers based on the Porsche Design philosophy are under considerationinBrazil and the Malaysian metropolis ofKuala Lumpur as well.

In Zell am See, meanwhile, much still recalls the early days of the Studio—and its founder. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche died in 2012, buthis office, from which hecould survey the family estate, has remained all butuntouched. That’s where itall comes full circle. Thedesigners are working together with Porsche Design Timepieces AG on a newand highly innovative watch. And above all, this watch will send aclear message: the philosophy ofF. A.Porsche is followedand respected to this day—and it is apparent inevery object.