Motor Centenary Award winners’ project insights

The Motor Centenary Award was inaugurated by Past Master Richard Dallimore in 1989 with the aim of supporting outstanding automotive design students studying for a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art in London. The bursary supports the chosen student with their final year Master design thesis and this culminates with the presentation of a physical design model to tutors and then on show to the public.

In February this year, the Coachmakers’ design bursary award judging committee, led by Court Assistant Giles Taylor, awarded Siddharth Sangwan the first place with Jade Rivalland second place. Both students have used their bursary funding very well indeed and details of their Master’s projects are outlined below.

Siddharth Sangwan – winner

My roots are grown from architecture, where I fell in love with the logical approach to sculpting forms which led me to automotive design. The excitement of designing cars has always been my driving force. Rather than finding solutions to problems, my approach is oriented more towards imagining future scenarios and ‘creating problems’. I want to address how brands will proceed with the idea of functioning of a car and reimagine the whole architecture of a car in the urban environment.

What happens to a car when not in use ?

Personal ownership vehicles are sitting idle on average for 23 hours per day and many people living in big city environments have more than one car. Increasing demand for more cars per family in big cities means that finding parking spaces has become an acute problem for urban dwellers the world over – increasing car ownership will result in a shortage of parking spots.

My final Masters’s project is an answer to the question as to whether a vehicle can become a part of architecture and act as a multipurpose space, not just for the commute. I have designed a vehicle that seamlessly becomes an integrated part of buildings and consequently a more integral aspect of our daily lives. The car space can also be used as a work pod whilst parked.

Jade Rivalland

As cities grow bigger by the day, our future urban lives will feature diversity, sustainability, new AI technologies and mobility. For young people, often outside and hanging out in groups, the need to move within the city is essential. H

ow can we meet the emerging needs of the next generation to provide a dedicated mobility solution based on their urban lifestyle?

My Masters project is titled ‘Unbound’ and is a lifestyle-based & modular mobility solution for the next young generation. It will exist in a future sustainable urban environment, meant to rethink the way we move around and use public spaces.