BRUTALISM AS CAR

The BMW i7 XDRIVE60 is the halo model of the new seventhgeneration 7 Series - and, like the monolithic design aesthetic it embodies, this BMW transforms unadorned functionalism into an ART FORM.

- STEVE SMITH

EXTERIOR This new interpretation of the BMW face with the split headlamp and grille has a unique light signature that will only be seen in BMW's halo models, like this i7, the X7 and the upcoming BMW XM.

THE CREW AT BMW LOVE A BIT OF BRUTALISM. As curvy and svelte as many of their models usually are, every now and again up pops a BMW that owes more to that architectural school's monolithic, unadorned functionalism than it does to easy-on-the-eye lines sculpted in a wind tunnel. In fact, Brutalism is coded into BMW's DNA - see the brand's Karl Schwanzer-designed museum in Munich - and it has manifested in models like the 7 Series of 2001-2008, the current BMW IX, and now the new 7 Series launched in South Africa earlier this year.

It's also an aesthetic that, by its very nature, is eternally polarising. Brutalism leaves no-one indifferent - you either love it or you hate it. And the new 7 Series has not escaped that adjudication. As I was for its 2000s-era Chris Bangledesigned predecessor, I am in the "love it" camp when it comes to this new Beemer. As too, obviously, is its creator Adrian van Hooydonk, the BMW Group's design director.

"The design is at the crossroads between engineering and art," says Adrian, who also served his apprenticeship under Bangle. "Art can inspire people in very personal ways. Often, modern art is an experience for all senses, and that is exactly what we wanted to create with the design of the BMW i7. It's an experience designed around comfort, space and privacy, and tailored to our most discerning customers."