Initiatives and Outcomes — RISD x Hyundai Motor Group

Through interdisciplinary studios and summer intensives, students and HMG designers and engineers apply lessons from biology to work focused on mobility. Projects include explorations of bio-integrated membranes for air filtration, exterior surface geometries for water collection and recycling, and generatively modeled lattices for improving shock absorption and safety.

Research begins in the classroom and at the Nature Lab, where students observe and analyze natural organisms, from seaweeds and mycelium to insect wings and coral structures, to uncover sustainable design principles. These insights drive material experiments and prototypes that imagine vehicles as living systems capable of filtering air, generating oxygen, or self-healing over time.

The RISD x HMG partnership engages academic departments across RISD while connecting with HMG’s advanced design teams in Seoul and beyond. Our campus serves as a physical and intellectual bridge between scientific inquiry and creative practice, offering students and HMG researchers access to biomaterials libraries, microscopy labs, and living collections that support hands-on experimentation.