Summer 2009
Food for Thought
Earlier this year 19 students from the world’s pre-eminent vehicle design course at London’s Royal College of Art were set a challenge by Vauxhall: show us the future of mobility in 2049. Will cars and wheels still be relevant?
Words: Rod Mackenzie, Pictures: Vauxhall and Richard Parsons
A large log swings precariously from a wire above a pile of chippings. Behind, something sealed inside a cardboard box the size of a chest freezer arches its back, stretching the crate’s latex lid. I can’t step back or I’ll be impaled upon shards of razor-sharp Perspex, jutting out from a stand at waist height. Welcome to the exciting future vision of the Vauxhall dealership in the year 2049.
I’m at the London Transport Museum to witness the culmination of a post-graduate student project, ‘Fast Forward Forty Years’. Sponsored by Vauxhall, it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Royal College of Art’s (RCA) prestigious Vehicle Design Course. The students look nervous, and with good reason. There’s a big prize at stake for the overall winner – a three-month internship at GM’s European design facility in Germany – and the judging panel includes some formidable talents. There’s Peter Stevens, whose design portfolio includes the iconic McLaren F1 roadcar and award-winning MG TF, and Mark Adams, GM Europe Vice President of Design, who led the new Insignia design team.
Also struggling to decide on a winner is Anthony Lo, GM Europe Director of Advanced Design, and a former graduate of the RCA course himself. He explained how the students were asked to set about the task.
“First, they had to devise a ‘user scenario’ for 2049, a day in the life of a future Vauxhall customer, before creating an object that matched those thoughts. But it’s not so much the final product that’s important but the journey the student took to get there – that’s the future story I’m looking for.”
So how does he predict a future when designing cars?
“We normally project two car generations ahead, say 10-12 years,” explains Lo. “We always create a scenario – with supportive information from other GM departments covering areas such as technology, propulsion and regulations. In that time things can move fast, so 40 years ahead is a difficult one to predict.”
This competition is a useful exercise, then? “Oh yes, very much,” Lo affirms. “For us the benefits are seeing students working without any of the constraints. Unlike us, they can disregard every piece of received wisdom and think totally freely.”