• by Tanya Gazdik , June 29, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group and Rhode Island School of Design revealed the latest phase of their multiyear partnership exploring the relationship between nature, art and design.

The automaker and the world-renowned design school have been working together since 2020 to study “socially and environmentally just societies” that go beyond mobility. 

This year’s focus was a sustainable future where “humans learn from nature's wisdom and coexist with the environment,” says Youngcho Chi, president and chief innovation officer of Hyundai Motor Group, whose brands include Hyundai and Kia.

New Horizons Studio, a unit focused on the development of Ultimate Mobility Vehicles, also took part in the joint research.

With the theme of “Sustainable Futures,” faculty members this past year leveraged their expertise to help Hyundai delve into important sustainability issues with the support of three dozen student researchers.

In one assignment, students made robots whose main mission is to repair something, opening dialogue about the role of robotics in proposing alternative social, environmental and sustainable futures.

The joint research project continues to build upon the collaborative research platform created by Strategic Partnerships at RISD, which was designed solely for Hyundai in 2020.

The collaboration has allowed Hyundai Motor Group to expand its perspective on future sustainability that encompasses humans, technology and nature, says Karim Habib, senior vice president and head of Kia Global Design Center.

An exhibition at RISD displaying student projects in the form of images, videos and physical prototypes is planned for fall 2022.