Hyundai Motor Group and RISD enter seventh year of biodesign research with "Motion Rewild" theme
Hyundai Motor Group and Rhode Island School of Design are continuing a multiyear research partnership that studies how nature moves through extreme environments and turns those lessons into mobility design.
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What Happened
Hyundai Motor Group and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) are continuing their multiyear research partnership on the relationship between nature, art and design, and the future of mobility. The 2026–27 edition is now in its seventh year and carries the theme "Motion Rewild," which investigates adaptation in uncontrolled environments and using energy the way nature does. The research looks at how motion works across extreme environments — from rocky intertidal sites to wetlands, forests and canopies — and how to build those findings into technology that actually works.
The work happens in the Regeneration Studio, led by an advanced scientific team in RISD's Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab together with studio faculty and experts from across RISD's networks. It brings together RISD faculty and staff, student researchers, and designers from Hyundai, Genesis and Kia to study biomimicry and biodesign as a pathway toward innovative materials, products, manufacturing methods, services and experiences. Under this year's theme, the studio undertakes a pioneering study of physical AI mobility — robots operating in uncontrolled environments — taking cues from nature, described by the partners as the oldest engineer, which works in unstructured spaces including disaster sites, where mobility is needed most. The concepts aim at designs that are more circular and less harmful to the planet.
- A fall advanced biodesign for mobility studio course, followed by a second advanced studio course in the spring
- An extended summer research opportunity including two-week intensives and five-week fellowships for Hyundai Motor Group designers and engineers
- A nine-day intensive on campus for teams of Hyundai Motor Group designers and engineers
- Five-week fellowships in which select Fellows develop regenerative strategies and structural innovations within the Nature Lab
- Two studio courses supported by RISD's Industrial Design department and the Nature Lab, run as an interdisciplinary workspace for students from multiple departments
RISD Academic and Creative Partnerships and the Nature Lab design a collaborative research platform solely for Hyundai Motor Group
Advanced biodesign for mobility studio course runs as part of the "Motion Rewild" year
A second advanced studio course follows within the 2026–27 academic year
Hyundai Motor Group designers and engineers take part in a nine-day intensive on campus, and select Fellows spend five weeks at the Nature Lab
“Nature teaches us that enduring motion is not about overcoming every obstacle through force, but about adapting intelligently to changing conditions. By studying how living systems move through complexity and adapt to uncertainty, we uncover new principles for mobility. At the intersection of nature's ancient intelligence and emerging artificial intelligence, we see an opportunity for human creativity to shape technologies that are not only more resilient and responsive, but more responsible in how they serve people and help sustain the world we share.”
“At a time when technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, our design begins with a deep understanding of people and nature. Nature has adapted to countless changes over time, accumulating its own solutions. We have made these natural principles the foundation of our design and technology, and I believe this is the essential asset that enables us to respond responsibly to any change.”
Why this matters
The collaboration puts Hyundai, Genesis and Kia designers and engineers alongside RISD faculty and students to study biomimicry and biodesign as a route to new materials, products, manufacturing methods and experiences. This year the work turns toward physical AI mobility — robots operating in uncontrolled environments — so findings could feed into the group's longer-term mobility research.
Terms in This Story
- Biomimicry
- An approach to design and engineering that takes inspiration from how living things and natural systems solve problems.
- Biodesign
- Design work that draws on biological systems, organisms or natural processes to create new materials, products or methods.
- Physical AI
- Artificial intelligence embodied in machines that move and act in the real, unstructured world rather than only in software.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.