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Car Wash with Andreas Mindt

Normally, show cars are spectacularly staged, in contrast to the VW ID. CROSS Concept is simply parked in an underground car park. And is washed. More precisely, by Andreas Mindt, Head of Design at Volkswagen. We spoke to him about stability in design and why calm is sometimes the most radical form of design.

And we learnt that an underground car park can be a perfect hidden place.

  • Text & Photos
    Matthias Mederer - ramp.pictures

It smells of concrete, rubber and cleaning agents. Anyone expecting a glamorous studio setting with soft spotlights will be disappointed here, several storeys below ground - and that is precisely the message. Andreas Mindt, the man who is shaping the visual future of Volkswagen, does not emerge from the lift with a staff of assistants or a marketing delegation. He carries a bucket, a microfibre cloth and a spray bottle.

"Many cars today want to scream. We want the ID. CROSS Concept speaks: quietly, but with authority. We don't build effects, we build character."
Andreas Mindt
In our CarWash, rampstyle editor-in-chief Michael Köckritz talks to Andreas Mindt where design meets unvarnished reality: in a normal underground car park. Between everyday cars and dust stands the new VW ID. CROSS Concept in deep "Jungle Green". Mindt wipes a water stain from the bonnet, takes a step back and smiles: "That's how I like it. No show effect. Just what counts."

Andreas Mindt dispels the cliché of the aloof designer in an interview. He talks about "trained gut instinct", the social responsibility of design and why a Volkswagen needs to radiate confidence again instead of just wanting to impress.

→ Read the full interview in the new rampstyle #37 - Wipe Out!
rampstyle #37
Wipe Out
VW ID. CROSS Concept: Car Wash with Andreas Mindt

rampstyle #37
Wipe Out

In surf lingo, a wipeout is the moment you’re thrown by the wave – when you’re tossed from your board, the water crashes over you. But actually: great! Because, as usual, we’re choosing to interpret the whole thing as a positive experience. No big deal. No ride without risk. Wiping out doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it’s an entirely natural part of the process. We even learn something – and things come into sharper focus. Applied to creativity, entrepreneurship, design culture, the wipeout is the equally natural and necessary risk of daring.

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