When I opened and email from Porsche today and read through their information promoting their new Caymen R. the first thought that popped in my mind was the Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. While he did not coin the term he used it to describe his aesthetic concept of stripping a design, be it a building or a chair, to it’s most basic, essential elements, believing that there was beauty and power in extreme simplicity. To turn the quote around, “That adding more that what was necessary, created a design of Less value.
The irony is that Mies van der Rohe buildings were not inexpensive to build. In fact some of the “Simplicity” raised, rather than lowered the cost.
Read Porsche’s outline of the wonders of their new Cayman R, and you will see some common rhetoric with Minimalist design that began in Germany while Mies was working alongside Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier.
Cayman R
When developing the Cayman R, one thing was clear: It should be uncompromising, sharper and more radical than before. This was to be achieved through a consistent mid-engine concept combined with rigorous weight reduction and enhanced power output. The result: No radio. No air conditioning system. No cupholders. Instead: 19-inch lightweight alloy wheels. Sports bucket seats. And 330 hp. In short: 121 lbs. (55 kg) lighter and 10 hp more powerful than the Cayman S.
I understand that in any sports car weight is the enemy. Well to be more exact, the greater the weight the more horsepower needed to reach the top-speeds and 0-60 times that cause excitement for the owner. So I get the idea of taking steps to cut weight. That said I feel strange about paying Porsche thousands of dollars extra money to take-out equipment that they charged me to include in the car originally. It's a little like charging me $2 more for the Cheeseburger, than charging me an extra $1 to remove the cheese.
