RCA award recognition for inclusive designs tackling social issues and mobility challenges
The Royal College of Art (RCA) has announced the winners of the Helen Hamlyn Design Awards for 2023, which champion inclusivity and help people with disabilities live independently.
The annual awards, organised by the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design (HHCD), a global leader in inclusive design, aims to champion inclusive, people-centred designs which propose innovative solutions to real social issues or problems.
To celebrate the latest ideas in inclusive design, the HHCD invited the RCA’s MA and MRes graduating cohort of 2023 to put forward their innovative projects for consideration for the Design Awards.
There were four main award categories with each winner receiving prize money to support further development of their project.
A panel of experts including industry guests and Lady Hamlyn selected winners from a shortlist based on how they demonstrated inclusivity and meaningful engagement, responded to an opportunity or challenge, involved people in the design process, described potential benefits for people and beyond, and reflected on the project and how it can be improved.
The Snowdon Award for Disability Prize of £2,000 was presented to Joy Lu and Beatrice Sangster for their project ‘We are in this Together’, which was envisioned as a communal inclusion plan that welcomes everyone into the conversations on disability and neurodiversity.
Aiming to address the issues surrounding navigating higher education in art and design as a disabled person, the designers devised a handbook, a curated set of discussion objects, and a set of activity cards that would provide some guidance, prompt conversations around related topics and assist with self and peer reflection, etc.
The Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity Prize of £2,000 went to Yihan Dong, Daniel Hale, William Eliot and Fergus Laidlaw for the project ‘Pleural’.
Pleural is an airway clearance device designed to help those individuals suffering from debilitating airway mucus. It uses intelligent analysis to provide the most effective treatment and monitoring to patients for relief and reduced infection risk.
Lucy O’Rorke, Director of Projects, Helen Hamlyn Trust, commented: “Pleural demonstrated a very clear virtuous circle through its design process into a wholistic person-centred design solution.
“Breathing is something that we take for granted and is central to our quality of life. For the 3.9 million suffering from excess mucus Pleural provides a bedside companion which not only addresses the physical issue of shifting mucus on the lungs but also enables the individual to understand their condition and its progression.
“It is an empowering design with the person at its heart and is a great example of a personalized approach to healthcare. The object itself encapsulates a feeling of comfort, holding and being held.”
Other awards presented included The Northumbrian Water Award, which went to Wanqi Wang, for devising a language conversion service, and The Experience Haus Award Prize went to Priyanshu Mukhopadhyay, for designing a water-based filtration system to be used in developing countries.
