Hyundai Motor Group and Rhode Island School of Design Announce Collaboration to Research Future of Cities

• The joint study examines new relationships between advanced technologies, public environments and personal experiences
• Four distinct study areas — surfaces, societies, futures and textile research around “adaptive ecologies” — were explored by RISD students and faculty and Hyundai researchers
• Study builds upon partnership established between Hyundai and RISD in 2020 

SEOUL/ PROVIDENCE, RI – Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai) and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) today announced a research collaboration exploring new relationships between advanced technologies, public environments and personal experiences. 

These interactions are defined as “adaptive ecologies”: the technological interfaces that exist between beings (such as living organisms and machines) and their surroundings (the vast spatial and material structures of nature). The joint study examines how artists and designers can use technology to build connections and shared experiences, covering topics ranging from community design and biomimicry, cellular life and biosensing to natural resource systems and infrastructures. 

Within each of these topics, nature is conceived of as a complex and technologically mediated point of departure for new ways of viewing and making the world. Through RISD’s Research & Strategic Partnerships program, the partnership with Hyundai elevates the expertise of faculty and the experimental creativity of students to conceive of future realities.

“This collaboration aligns with Hyundai Motor Group’s vision of becoming a future-shaping innovator via open innovation. Last year, we collaborated with RISD to apply the school’s biomimicry solutions to the question of future mobility, and this year, we expanded our scope to the future city and pursued group-wide collaboration with the participation of both Hyundai Motor and Kia’s global design centers. Our plan is to explore solutions developed from the outcomes of this partnership and apply them to tangible opportunities such as innovative vehicle design and smart city development,” says Youngcho Chi, president and chief innovation officer of Hyundai Motor Group.

“It is exciting to see the results of RISD’s commitment to contributing to new knowledge through innovative curricula and increasing our overall research capacity to support interdisciplinary inquiry and exchange, as set forth in RISD’s strategic plan, ‘NEXT: RISD 2020–2027.’ We are grateful for Hyundai’s continued commitment and support in embracing the role of artists and designers in using technology to build connections and shared experiences,” says RISD Interim President Dave Proulx.

“Our partnership with Hyundai has developed an ideal dynamic in which massively complex problems spin off concrete proposals, while seemingly simple propositions are deconstructed to expose underlying assumptions and unintended consequences. Problematizing answers and responding iteratively to urgent, near-future challenges has become a common and fertile ground for this special relationship. We are enormously grateful to have found a partner in Hyundai who shares our values and methods,” says RISD Provost Kent Kleinman.

This joint research project builds upon the new collaborative research platform created by RISD solely for Hyundai in 2020. In this second year of partnership, five faculty members at the world-renowned design school leveraged their expertise to explore study areas supported by 32 students. Students were selected through a highly competitive process involving 16 departments at RISD. The 10 departments ultimately represented in the cohort include Architecture, Global Arts and Cultures, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Liberal Arts, Painting and Textiles. This year, a Hyundai task force created to support the students’ research included designers from both Hyundai Motor and Kia’s global design centers.

“Studying sustainability and taking responsibility for future generations is now a universal task. To keep a fundamentally new approach from the ground up through the Collaborative Research with RISD, the process of studying nature adapting and surviving changes allows us to draw a new optimal blueprint for our future,” says Sangyup Lee, senior vice president and head of Hyundai & Genesis Global Design Center.

“Cooperating and working with the brilliant staff and students at RISD is not only a mutual inspiration but we hope it can be the beginning of a new way of looking at design in general and integrating the lessons learned from nature in our industrial processes,” says Karim A. Habib, senior vice president and head of Kia Global Design Center.

Offering different perspectives and technological tools, four distinct areas of “adaptive ecologies” were examined: surfaces, societies, futures and textile research.

Adaptive Ecologies: Bio-Interactive Surfaces
Faculty lead: Katia Zolotovsky, Digital + Media 
This group examined the applications of programmable living cell technology and biosensing. Designs include interactive surfaces to facilitate communication between humans and their surroundings for a healthier and more sustainable future. Researchers experimented with various material systems to host biochemical interactions, such as microfluidics, biomaterials and fabrics, and interactive surfaces range from responsive textiles to urban displays.  
 
Adaptive Ecologies: Technologies, Natures, Societies 
Faculty leads: Soojung Ham, Industrial Design and Ryan McCaffery, Architecture
In a study of the reciprocal relationships between natural ecosystems and the infrastructures of our built environments, this group worked with models and scenario-based planning, examining how designs can transform these technologically mediated environments into new experiences and forms of social value.
 
Adaptive Ecologies: Envisioning Futures
Faculty lead: Rafael Attias, Illustration
This group explored how to visualize complex information by developing multidimensional concepts, exploring new modes for narrative through simulation, crossover experimentation, collaborative processes and connective environments. Student researchers used visual expression, interactive media, sound, animation and spatial concepts.
 
Adaptive Ecologies: Fabric Connections
Faculty lead: Joy Ko, Textiles
This study is a personal, critical exploration of the interactions between information technology and aspects of everyday life: our bodies, the textiles in which we envelope ourselves, communities in physical and networked mediated space. This group looked at analyzing and understanding human behavior through tracking, sensing and mapping tools to guide the generation of “fabric” in its broadest sense, ranging from textiles that empower personal data to community design in virtual reality.
 
Staff at RISD’s Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab worked with Hyundai and RISD faculty and students on biodesign topics, including biomimicry, biomaterials and biosystems applications. Additional support in research activities came from Co-Works, RISD’s interdisciplinary research lab focused on emerging technologies.

This summer, 18 researchers who have previously participated in the Hyundai Research Collaborative will spend eight weeks of intensive, continued activity on expanding Future of Cities research from spring 2021 through collaboration with the design team at Hyundai Motor and Kia. An exhibition is tentatively planned for fall 2021 to share the results of these collaborations.

To download high-resolution images of this project, videos and other artifacts, please visit here. 

About Rhode Island School of Design
RISD’s mission, through its college and museum, is to educate students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation. The college’s strategic plan NEXT: RISD 2020–2027 sets an ambitious vision for educating students for the future and bringing creative practices to bear on the creation of just societies, a sustainable planet and new ways of making and knowing. RISD’s immersive model of art and design education, which emphasizes critical making through studio-based learning and robust study in the liberal arts, prepares students to intervene in the critical challenges of our time. Working with exceptional faculty and in extraordinary specialized facilities, 2,225 students from 60 countries engage in 44 full-time bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. RISD’s 30,000 alumni worldwide testify to the impact of this model of education, exemplifying the vital role artists and designers play in today’s society. Founded in 1877, RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) and the RISD Museum help make Providence, RI among the most culturally active and creative cities in the region. Find more information at risd.edu.
 
RISD Research & Strategic Partnerships sustains the school’s culture of inquiry by offering a platform for research initiatives, providing opportunities for programming, training and publication; and encouraging collaboration among students and faculty. RISD recognizes that discovery and experimentation are critical for meaningful work in the arts and for realizing the significance of art and design in the world. The institution's focus on fine arts, design and liberal arts, the excellence of its faculty and student body, and its compact size all facilitate diverse types of research and partnership that contribute new insight and advance practice through exploration of materials, techniques, contexts and ideas.

About Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group is a global corporation that has created a value chain based on automobiles, steel and construction and includes logistics, finance, IT and service. With approximately 250,000 employees worldwide, the Group’s automobile brands include Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp and Genesis. Empowered by creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on all challenges, we are working to create a better future for all.
 
More information about Hyundai Motor Group, please see: www.hyundaimotorgroup.com
More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at:
 or globalpr.hyundai.com
 
Visit the Kia Motors Global Media Center for more information: www.kianewscenter.com.
 
For more information on Genesis and its new definition of luxury, please visit www.genesis.com.
 
Disclaimer: Hyundai Motor Group believes the information contained herein to be accurate at the time of release. However, the company may upload new or updated information if required and assumes that it is not liable for the accuracy of any information interpreted and used by the reader.
 
Contact:
Jin Cha
Global PR Team / Hyundai Motor Group
sjcar@hyundai.com
+82 2 3464 2128
 
Contact:
Jaime Marland
Senior Director, Public Relations / RISD
jmarland@risd.edu
+1 401 427 6954