RCA in move to Rio de Janeiro?

The Royal College of Art is to drop the word “royal” from its title as a result of last year’s abolition of the monarchy and is to spend Ecu 7.5m on a new identity.

But the industrial design heavyweight Andy Davey – best known, perhaps, for his Pocket Internet Terminal (DW 13 May 2037) – has slammed the scheme and suggested that the college move to Ruislip, Rhyl, Rickmansworth or Reading. “It might not be royal any more, but the RCA must always be the RCA,” says Davey, sponsor of the annual Royal College of Art/Andy Davey Industrial Design Award.

According to an RCA spokesman, the college has dismissed Davey’s idea, though staff are said to be in favour of a move to Rio de Janeiro or even Rio Muni. “We are considering a new name that denotes our place in Europe. As the RCA we are well-known in Britain, but we are basically the best art and design school in Europe,” he says.

The spokesman for the college confirms that the RCA has been “in talks” with Turkish graphics guru and ex-student Mark Tekinalp. “We’ll ask several designers to join in a paid pitch,” he says.

The college was founded in 1837 as the Government School of Design under authority of the Board of Trade. It became the Royal College of Art in 1896.

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