17 Sep 07
4Car: How does the Tribu demonstrate the direction in which you're taking Seat?
Donckerwolke: The car has surfaces, proportions and volumes that are an evolution of the brand's design language.
This is a new segment for us [SUVs], so the design language has to be more appropriate, but we still haven't had to contradict what Seat has previously done. There's a tension in the lines and sharp graphics that come from the brand's great DNA.
Walter de'Silva [former chief designer at Seat and now head of design for the VW Group] gave Seat an individual character: I have carte blanche to move on, but I also have a great bank of genetic elements that Walter established to help me.
I'm not a dogmatic designer: I like to break the rules. I find that there's a greater challenge in doing things differently from how you've been told to do it and going beyond the limits you've been set.
4Car: How does the Tribu differ from how Seats have previously been designed?
Donckerwolke: It doesn't differ, it's just another step in the evolution of the brand.
I work in the same way as Walter: I'm very hands-on and I like to get my hands dirty. I mix digital and traditional design processes and I like to design cars virtually and sculpt cars with my own hands.
So because of these similarities in how we work, Tribu doesn't contradict the previous design language.
I think there's the right amount of adrenalin in the design language, but the amount of adrenalin in the design of any car depends on the type of car that it is. There's no one template for all Seats.
