Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) and the Royal College of Art (RCA) today announced the winners of the first Hyundai Awards for Excellence in Sustainability and Creative Practice 2023. The awards, organised by the Hyundai-Kia Innovation Laboratory at the RCA’s Intelligent Mobility Design Centre (IMDC), celebrate projects that challenge current norms within society and suggest solutions or provoke excitement in the face of climate change and sustainability challenges. RCA students graduating in 2023 were invited to contribute creative responses in three categories: Inspiration, Innovation and Aesthetics & Craft. The winners were selected by a panel of experts including Peter Schreyer, Executive Design Advisor Hyundai Motor Group, and Dale Harrow, Chair of Intelligent Mobility at the Royal College of Art. “The depth of the solutions proposed was truly impressive, we saw well thought-out ideas that clearly connected to real-life problems,” said Peter Schreyer.
Waste Not – Ella Nartey
Three winning projects. The Inspiration prize, designed to respond to the theme of climate change and sustainability was awarded to Ella Nartey for ‘Waste Not’. The project aims to re-evaluate our view on waste and our dependence on traditional raw materials within the design industry. By designing a zero-waste restaurant, a sustainable brand and developing a range of biomaterials using food waste, Ella aims to promote sustainable material innovation and circular design within the built environment while celebrating waste as a resource.
Future Farm – Qing Duan
The Innovation prize for artistic or design solutions to make the world more sustainable was awarded to Qing Duan for ‘Future Farm’. In Qing’s vision of the future farm, hydroponic systems, LED lighting, rainwater storage, energy diversion and solar panels work together to create a permaculture recycling system. Through this integrated system, the structure is divided into three main sections to grow hydroponic crops: the bottom of the innovative tree structure is used to grow leafy green vegetables, PVC pipes connecting the roof to the ruins are used to grow herbs and crops are hung from the roof to grow fruit.
Symbiosis – Eileen White
The Aesthetics & Craft award for stylistic practice that explores the theme of sustainability was presented to Eileen White for Symbiosis. Working in the field of photography, Eileen has developed slow and conscious reciprocal ways of working. Transforming homemade, cultivated, recycled or waste materials into alternative, non-toxic darkroom chemicals or printing substrates allows Eileen to use a low-tech, sustainable, cost-effective and safe approach to art making: it has become a form of environmental activism.
