Royal College of Art Show 2002

The Show: Two featured the work of students in Vehicle Design, Design Products, Industrial Design Engineering, Architecture and Interiors, Computer Related Design, Textiles, Animation, Communication Art and Design, Conservation and History of Design.

For the 15th year running Pilkington Automotive sponsored the Royal College of Art's Vehicle Design Awards. The 2002 award for the most innovative use of glazing went to Ted Mannerfelt, aged 27 from Sweden for his Ford 'Connect' car.

The Connect is a modular assembly vehicle with a glass roof which can be lifted off and replaced by a simple windshield. The innovation is that the glazing has become part of the modular components.

Ted explains the motivation and inspiration behind his design: "My concept connects Henry Ford's philosophy for car mass production with today's communication infrastructure, using state of the art production and construction techniques. By using 'flat pack' self-assembly simple construction and the use of essential equipment, cost efficiency is assured. It also gives the car owner the opportunity to personalise the car." Customers can customise the vehicle through an online ordering system.

Ted's experience in the automotive sector includes four years at Coventry University studying Transport Design and work placements at Jaguar Advanced Design and Lotus Design.

This year's winner of the Pilkington Automotive Best Overall Design Award is Ayline Koning, aged 24, from France, the first female student to win one of the awards. The Best Overall Design Award is presented to the student whose ideas best explore the limits of the vehicle design, considering both the requirements of industry as well as facing tough styling competition.

Ayline's design 'Aura' is an asymmetric car for the future with bold glass flowing through its sleek sculpted body. She explains: "By night a car loses its three dimensional aspect and becomes a flat object, its design identity disappears. In this design I have explored the potential of light as a tool for transforming the appearance of a vehicle."

Jaguar's principal designer Keith Helfet, one of the judging panel, presented the prize of £1,500 to Ayline. He commented: "The design prize in particular looks for fresh ideas and innovation. Ayline really does capture this spirit of innovation with this very surprising and striking design.

"The concept of asymmetric vehicles has been tried many times in the past but we feel that she has been much more successful. There is great balance between the symmetry of the body side forms and the extremely bold asymmetric use of glass which flows through the car. The end result is a car which is stunningly different, giving an overall design statement which vehicle manufacturers struggle to achieve."

Ayline's experience in the automotive industry includes a year at Coventry University studying Transport Design, a placement at Citroen and her studies have been sponsored by Land Rover.

Commendations in the Best Overall Design category also went to Boris Grell, aged 26 from Slovakia, for his futuristic air ship with a personal pod made substantially of glass and Jaromir Cech, aged 27 from the Czech Republic for his city motorbike.

Nicholas David's 'rCar' explores a new masculine design language, with the exterior aesthetic of the vehicle determined by the internal structure. The design uses contrasting robust architectural forms and organic shapes to emphasise masculinity. "The materials used and the interface of the exterior and interior evoke motorbikes with their exoskeleton feel and look", explains Nicholas. The vehicle juxtaposes flowing bodywork with more mechanical structural shapes to give a unique personality.