By Jane Han
NEW YORK — Growing up, Lee Sang-yup didn’t know cars. Sports cars were foreign to him, just as much as America was. So how did this man turn out designing and getting credited for bringing the classic American Chevy Camaro back to life?
Surprisingly, all the shortcomings, says Lee.
“I grew up in Korea with cars like Sephia and Elantra,” said the acclaimed designer in an interview with The Korea Times. “I had little exposure to the world of sports cars, but that ended up working as an advantage. I had a fresh take on the old classic.”
He’s right.
The 2010 Chevy Camaro received rave reviews from leading auto critics for redefining Americana with a modern twist on the 1969 original.
This design work helped boost Lee’s career to a whole new level. After more than 10 years with GM, Lee left for the Volkswagen Group in January as the auto giant’s chief exterior designer.
Now based in California, he is responsible for overseeing dozens of design projects for Volkswagen and Audi, reviewing sketches and conceptualizing future models.
“Design is a constant competition wherever you are. It’s never ending,” said the 41-year-old, who took his first step in the industry as an intern at Porsche and Pininfarina in Europe.
After six months, Lee joined GM in Detroit, where he designed the Camaro and the Stingray Corvette Concept — featured in the Transformers sequel — among the carmaker’s other major projects.
“Looking back, everything happened in a flash,” said Lee.
The Korean-born came to the U.S. after earning his bachelor’s degree in sculpture from Hongik University. Seeing a Porsche for the first time on the streets of Itaewon, set off his interest in cars during his late college years.
Lee soon decided to pursue car design and attended the Art Center College of Design (ACCD) in Pasadena, where he graduated with honors in 1999.
“From language to cultural barriers, everything was challenging at first,” he said, “but in the end, design was the only thing that mattered in the competition.”
Lee recalled traveling across America to get a better grasp of the culture of cars and overcome his lack of cultural understanding.
“That lack of understanding, however, worked in my favor because I was able to fill in those gaps with the other cultures I’ve seen around the world,” he said.
Today, Lee is recognized as a seasoned designer who seeks perfection and precision.
He oversees more than 60 designers, manages some 10 projects and plays a key role in road mapping Volkswagen’s future design direction.
“The global auto industry is going to continue evolve rapidly,” said the design expert, “and this means the industry needs more competitive designers.”
“A true designer must be flexible, open-minded and forward-looking,” Lee stressed, explaining that automobiles usually take four to five years to go from the drawing board to production. Lee advised aspiring car designers to see the world and embrace it.
“You have to absorb new things to create new things,” he said. “Remember that it’s only that one winning sketch that gets made into a real car, not the second place design.”