Laurens van den Acker
Laurens van den Acker | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1965 Deurne, North Brabant, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Automotive designer |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Known for | Chief Design Officer at Renault Group |
Laurens van den Acker (born 5 September 1965 in Deurne, North Brabant) is a Dutch automotive designer currently serving as the Chief Design Officer at the Renault Group.
Biography
Inspired by his father, an architect, van den Acker developed an early interest in design. He obtained a Master of Engineering degree from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, during which he completed an internship with Volvo Trucks in Ghent.
Career
Van den Acker launched his professional journey in 1990 at Design System srl located in Turin, Italy, where he worked on the interior design of the Bugatti EB110 supercar. Three years later, he joined Audi as an Exterior Designer based in Ingolstadt, Germany, where he encountered J Mays. In 1996, van den Acker followed Mays to California to work as a Senior Designer at SHR Perceptual Management.
In 1998, he became part of Ford Motor Company, eventually ascending to chief designer of the Brand Imaging Group in Irvine, California. His contributions included several Ford concept vehicles such as the 427, Ford 021C, Concept U, and Ma. By 2003, he was leading design for the Ford Escape at the Dearborn Design Center. He advanced further in 2005 to become chief designer for Strategic Design at Ford.
Van den Acker took over from Moray Callum as Mazda’s global head of design in May 2006. His leadership there resulted in concept models like Nagare (debuted at Los Angeles 2006), Ryuga (Detroit 2007), and Hakaze (Geneva 2007).
After departing Mazda in April 2009, van den Acker joined Renault the following month. By September that year, he was appointed Senior Vice President of Renault Corporate Design, succeeding Patrick le Quément. Among his key projects are the design of the Renault Twizy, the fourth generation Renault Clio, and the 2013 iteration of the Renault Captur.
Design work
- Bugatti models:
- Ford models:
- Ford 24/7 (concept)
- Ford 427 by Joe Baker
- Ford Escape
- Ford GloCar (concept)
- Ford Model U (concept)
- Mercury models:
- Mazda models:
- Mazda 3 (2009)
- Mazda Hakaze (concept)
- Mazda Kiyora (concept)
- Mazda Nagare (concept)
- Mazda Ryuga (concept)
- Mazda Furai (concept)
- Renault models:
- Renault Arkana (2019)
- Renault Captur (concept)
- Fourth generation (Clio IV) (2012)
- Renault DeZir (concept)
- Renault Espace V
- Renault Talisman
- Renault Twizy
Others
According to Richard Blackburn writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, van den Acker has preserved sketches dating back to when he was five years old that "express the emotion of motion," crafting designs that evoke movement even when static.
Personal life
Van den Acker is married to fellow designer Pieternel Kroes and they have one daughter together.
His initial automobile was a Volvo 1800 ES. He acknowledges Italian designer Marcello Gandini as an inspiration and considers the Alfa Romeo BAT series his ideal vehicles.