Organised by the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art (RCA) and RCA Vehicle Design, sponsored by OMRON Corporation
Moving On is the latest phase in a collaboration between the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art, and the RCA Vehicle Design Course. This collaboration dates back some 8 years, and has been part of an investigation of social change issues and their implications for design and design education initiated by the DesignAge action-research programme and continued by the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre.
Tuesday 21 March
Screening and Presentation
6.00pm Doors open
7.00pm Welcome
Dale Harrow, Acting Course Director, RCA Vehicle Design and
Karl Ludvigsen, Ludvigsen Associates, Chairman of Moving On
Transport and the City
Al Rees, RCA Research Fellow and Film Historian
An exploration of city transport through cinema and documentary film clips
A Vision of Transport 2085
Dr Sheila R. Ronis, President, The University Group, Inc. Michigan, USA
An exploration of transport in 2085 based on visioning processes used by
Pentagon futurists.
9.00pm End
Wednesday 22 March
8.30am Registration & coffee
9:30am Transport in London 1939 - Film
9.45am Welcome - Dale Harrow, Acting Course Director, RCA Vehicle Design
9.50am The end of the road? — identifying the challenges
Industrial development and mass transportation are intimately linked. In the 19th Century, the railway, and in the 20th Century the private car offered freedom and mobility, but as we move into the 21st Century the social, environmental and economic costs of almost universal car ownership are raising difficult questions. These tensions are most evident in our cities, and demand a rethink of vehicles and transport services that will challenge the future viability of the private car as we know it.
Introduction: Karl Ludvigsen, Moving On chairman, Chairman, Ludvigsen Associates
Message: Mr Hideki Masuda, Vice President, OMRON Corporation
10:00 Setting the scene — changing cities, changing transport needs
100 years ago travel in London was by foot or horse power, and traffic moved at 12mph. One hundred years later congestion has reduced travel to below that speed in most major cities. The dramatic growth of conurbations and mega-cities, the decline of heavy industries and radical changes in living and working patterns, create new demands for transport and travel within and between cities.
Commentator: Austin Williams, Director, Transport Research Group, Technical Editor, Architects Journal
10.45 Breaking the mould — new paradigms for integrated city travel
New thinking is emerging around the possibilities of seamless integration of public and private, personal and communal forms of travel. Although bus, rail and tramway services have been delivered by both private and public sectors, there has been little integration of these in ways that respond to the specific journey requirements of individuals, and only partial adaptation of them to the needs of older or disabled people. Apart from taxis, rickshaws and bicycles, the private car has remained the most popular choice for individual journeys, and will continue to do so until this paradigm is broken. Key factors are: the potential of new technologies to enable high levels of integration of journey elements and individual customisation and choice; changing patterns of ownership, including rental, hire, smart-cards, joint ownership, etc.; intelligent and driverless vehicles; the emergence of new service opportunities and providers; and the resultant shift in emphasis from personal ownership towards integrated services and pay-as-you-go travel. The implication for designers is to focus on services and systems rather than the individual vehicle.
Günter Hörmandinger Transport & Environment Analyst, Brussels, by video
Cllr. Nicky Gavron, Member, UK Commission for Integrated Transport
Hans Rat, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport- UITP, by video
Dr Sheila R. Ronis, President, The University Group Inc, Michigan USA
11:30 Break
11:50 The design response — can technology bridge the gap?
New and emerging technologies offer the possibility of intelligent vehicles communicating with intelligent roadways, and of individual customisation of both journey, and interfaces with the system. Environments that are aware of the travel and mobility needs of individuals — for example tourists in a strange city — and services that can be booked on-the-spot or in advance using IT and the Internet, could deliver access and choice to the individual along with high levels of integration, cost saving and long-term sustainability.
Commentator: Dr Paul Ewing, Course Director, MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College
12:35pm Preparing for the future — Moving On at the RCA
To respond to rapid social and technological change and the new matrix of challenges and opportunities that result, the automotive industry will have to become less conservative. There will be a move from building and selling cars for the open road to an emphasis on probing more deeply into the lifestyles, needs and aspirations of different groups of transport users. The industry will have to move on, as will design practice. The design studio of the future will be more research oriented, more exploratory, and more multi-disciplinary. The RCA is responding by reshaping its own practice and embedding research more centrally in the Vehicle Design Course.
1.00 Plenary — reflecting on the morning
Speculations and conclusions, key messages and themes from the day. What do we carry with us from the event?
Karl Ludvigsen with Dr Sheila R. Ronis, Professor Sir Peter Hall, The Bartlett, UCL, Jane Priestman OBE, Design Management Consultant and Peter Stevens, Visiting Professor, RCA Vehicle Design
1.30 End of seminar, sandwich lunch
The RCA has previously held two agenda setting events, set group projects related to the moving on theme, and individual students have explored associated issues through their major design projects. To maintain this momentum and develop a network of supporters and experts around the programme, this creative event will explore future issues from the joint perspective of social and technological change in the context of evolving cities and urban lifestyles. The objective is not to map out the next 20 years with precision, but to share hopes, fears and visions of a more human-centred future, and explore imaginative ways to respond that build on the insights and expertise of different communities — design, academia, consumers, service providers and the manufacturing industry. The outcome will be more than some exciting ideas, we hope it will be the beginning of an active network pushing forward the frontiers of design and thinking.
2:30 Creating the City transport 0f 22 March 2020
Led by Dr Sheila R. Ronis
Approximately 30 experts from the automotive industries, public transport, city planning, design, academia and other disciplines meet with seminar speakers, RCA Vehicle Design students and staff in a creative workshop led by strategic futurist Dr Sheila R. Ronis. Working in small groups to a structured programme, participants will develop scenarios built around key drivers of change. The scenarios will consist of headlines, timelines, images and stories, that the participants will share. These will presented back to a plenary session both as a tapestry of ideas and concepts, and as selected stories. The results will be collated and published as a further step in the moving on process.
5:30 Plenary & recommendations — reflecting on the day
Led by Karl Ludvigsen
6:30 Supper in the RCA Senior Common Room
View the Royal College of Art private collection; Meet the Rector, Professor Christopher Frayling
7.30 OMRON Corporate video, closing remarks and presentations
Drinks with the think-tank participants
8.30 End