The RCA’s own tutors and department heads as well as representatives from Fiat design — including Fiat-Chrysler’s global head of design Lorenzo Ramaciotti and Fiat head of design Andreas Wuppinger — were part of the judging panel, which took into account stylistic value, functionality, innovation, originality, connection, market coherence, product, users, communication and quality of the presentation on both projects. Following the seven presentations on the future Fiat 500 and a further seven presentations on the Panda for 2020, ten students were singled out for their work.

Fiat Panda

Panda Hug concept
Design Team: Weiyi Wang (exterior); Francesco Binaggia (interior); Upasana Divakar (textile design); Harry Trimble (service design)

The innovative modularity of the Fiat ‘Panda Hug’ interior design proposal won vehicle designer Francesco Binaggia a place at Fiat’s design studio in Turin. With a 3+1 seating configuration, a pop-up steering wheel that can be moved along a clever tube system (which doubles as an air vent), an a vertically opening door to shield users users from inclement weather, gesture control can also be used to attenuate the vehicle’s functions.

Panda Roomy concept
Design Team: Ji Won Yun (exterior); Xiangyin Yao (interior); Hana Mitsui (textile design)

Ji Won Yun’s exterior design proposal for the ‘Panda Roomy’ concept, conceived as an extension of one’s personal living space, also won him an award. With an exterior shape inspired by Italian architecture, the design features a stepped roof covered in opaque glass and tail lamps integrated into the backlight.

Panda Vivo concept
Design Team: Daniel Quinlan (exterior); Peter Ten Klooster (interior); Xinglin Sun (visual communications)

Visual communications designer Xinglin Sun’s touch-screen controls and social connectivity for the ‘Panda Vivo’ concept were worthy of the award for vehicle interaction. As part of the semi-autonomous car sharing concept which includes a mobile app, the interface can be personalized, adding new, customized functions to the interface based on user’s individual preference.

Panda Flex concept
Design Team: Jannis Carrius (exterior); Alexander Brink (interior); Gemma Waggett (textile design)

Gemma Waggett’s work on the ‘Panda Flex’ proposal garnered a prize for most innovative use of materials. A simple piece of stitch folded textile creates the basic template for the interior design by Alexander Brink. With materials inspired by British transport patterns and the clean simple graphics and colors of the original Fiat Panda, Waggett also offered an array of color palettes to diversify product reach across different markets as well as reversible interior fabrics to change the feel of the interior.

Anima Panda concept
Design Team: Jiyeong Park(exterior); Andrea Bottigliero (interior); Neha Lad (textile design); Amy Lee (service design)

Amy Lee, who worked on the ‘Anima Panda’ concept, also won an award for her vision of the 2020 Panda’s service design. She showed a short film based on a fictitious couple’s interactions with the vehicle through voice and gestural interfaces. The interface can also be personalized through apps for a more humanized interaction.

The winning students will visit the Fiat-Chrysler Centro Stile where they will observe their designs being turned into clay models. They will also be offered paid internships at the company’s design studio between July 2014 and February 2015. These will then be exhibited at the RCA’s graduation exhibition in June 2014.