About the centre

The Intelligent Mobility Design Centre is an interdisciplinary research centre that explores, prototypes and evaluates new mobility and automotive transitions via the synthesis of design and research methods. It integrates design and technology with insights into people and the social, environmental and economic context to enable a 360 view on the design of future mobility.

Uniquely within the RCA, the Centre includes the Intelligent Mobility MA programme, allowing students unprecedented access to researchers to cultivate excellent research and design outputs. Via the MA programme, pioneering new teaching in a subject area traditionally focused on design skills only.

The Centre is organised into three distinct, complementary Studios:

Automotive Transitions

The Automotive Transitions Studio is focussed on vehicle design and explores the paradigm shifts of the car industry, its transition to a focus on sustainability and its connection with car design heritage, material culture, fashion and people’s aspirations.

Humanising Technology

The Humanising Technology Studio explores how mobility experiences and services may be transformed by the impact of emerging technologies and how these can be made accessible, usable, and enjoyable by understanding people and leveraging creative methods. 

People & Places

The People & Places Studio explores the relationships between society, place-making and our transport systems and how design might respond to this relationship through new forms of architecture and sustainable mobility products, services and experiences. 

The IMDC collaborates with business, academic, government and voluntary sector partners and exchanges knowledge via education, events, publications and industrial collaboration and strategic partnerships. The partnership with Hyundai-Kia is the inaugural industry funded Innovation Lab at the IMDC. Hyundai Motor Group and its Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, has partnered with IMDC to foster the creative exploration of future mobility.