Design for our Future Selves awards 2006

2006 marks the seventh year of this inclusive design education programme at the RCA in its current form. It began life in the early 1990s as the DesignAge competition, which aimed to develop design for the needs of the ageing population. Then, in 2000, the design aims of the scheme were broadened to include a wider range of user groups and more diverse social issues. This focus is now encapsulated in one over-arching brief for RCA students:

‘An architecture, design or communication project which addresses a social issue or engages with a particular social group in order to improve independence, mobility, health or working life.’

Through engaging with a particular social group in the design process, the final design proposals needed to demonstrate how people’s lives can be improved.

The winning projects were chosen from a list of 28 finalists, covering a wide range of creative disciplines and each with something distinct to say about design for social change and inclusion. They are drawn from ten different RCA departments and were competing for £7,000 in prize money.

There were seven awards:

• Snowdon Award for Disability Projects
• Big Idea Award for Inclusive Communication
• Future Foundation Award for Inclusive Design Research Process
• GMW Architects Award for Inclusive Environment
• Help the Aged Award for Independent Living
• Mobility Choice Award for Independent Mobility
• Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity