When I decided to build my house I wanted it to be reduced down to the essentials. A pure architectural experience of space, seamless to the desert environment. Off the grid, solar powered and self-sustaining. But at the same time I wanted my house to be connected and smart. So I developed my own internet solution, engineered my solar power and sun heater system and built every single detail. When I was talking about my plan to build this house in the middle of nowhere - everyone thought I was crazy, except my parents. They knew that starting from scratch and taking a risk is part of my nature.
Growing up in east Germany during the cold war made me learn to develop my creativity because we had so little. Only two black and white TV channels, empty streets, and the drab concrete buildings portrayed a place that seemed to live without laughter. If I wanted something, I had to invent it myself. As a little boy, my father—a car engineer— helped me build a soapbox race car. No one else had anything like this. My mother taught me to sew so I could design my own subversive clothes, which marked the beginning of my journey into punk— my way of speaking out against the communism system. I didn’t take NO for an answer any longer. I realized I could change my environment if I wanted to. I learned to adjust and to be creative in order to survive.
As the cold war ended and the wall fell, I had to start over. My country disappeared, the landscape changed and I had to start from scratch. But at the same time I finally had access to everything I needed to be creative and productive. I walked into a record store and bought music I always wanted. I could go and buy a guitar and a synthesizer. I formed a band with some friends and only five years later we signed a record contract. Music brought me to the design profession. In particular the music of 4AD. Pixies, XYMOX, Michael Brook, visualized by graphic designers such as Vaughan Oliver at V23, Dirk Rudolf and Stefan Sagmeister. They are the reason I fell in love with graphic design because I understood the purpose of design firsthand - It’s less about function as an end point, and more about access to something new.
My experience as a band member helped me to shape and grow my team at the agencies "New Image" and "Alligator" I founded in Berlin in 1998. I knew the importance of organizational culture and the environment to successfully unlock the creative potential of every employee. I love the challenge of leading a team, while also giving them the space they need to be most creative. In my over eighteen years of experience as designer and entrepreneur, I have learned what it means to design with the user in mind. It takes empathy but also fantasy to be able to place yourself in different scenarios - that innovate and transform the future.
I seek to be part of the solution to our global challenges. My contribution is a solar powered LV3 DC fast charger project which I’m actively developing. I believe in the current automobile movement. As Director User Experience, working for Bosch, Ford and GM allows me to be part of this exciting time. I'm excited to create meaningful experience for this new era, where autonomous driving will broaden and change how we spend our time while driving. This has the potential to change our urban landscape and the way we own and use our cars in the future.
The car industry has a huge opportunity to shape our experience, making our life easier and more enjoyable. Knowing what each person needs and making it accessible at the right time is where the car manufactures can find their new business models.
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Battery strings and a flexible car platform allows us to think differently about the EV’s battery pack. What if we could use our EV’s battery to power our house?
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As a Tesla Model S driver, I was impressed by how fast Tesla's Super Charger charges my car. The more I thought about it, I wondered would it be possible to "fast charge" my car by using solar power only?
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The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a continuation of the digital revolution and is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. The main difference to all previous technological revolutions is that if one thing changes the whole system needs to change to keep up.
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