The faculty demonstrates the diverse impact of design in shaping our world. Explore the profiles of current and past RDIs to understand their work.
Exhibitions + Interiors
1957
1973
Bridges
1977
1983
Product
1981
1995
Engineering Design
2006
2017
Interior Design
2005
2011
Exhibitions
1961
1969
General
1944
1951
Textiles
1962
1987
Graphic Design
1994
2005
New Media
2000
2013
Stamps
1970
1989
General
1947
1959
General Design
1969
1985
Packaging
1937
1955
Engineering
1983
1991
Furniture Design
1978
2003
Graphics
1947
1967
Packaging + Graphics
1959
1971
Glass + Stained Glass
1936
1941
Products + Industrial
1961
1975
Ceramics + Glass
1981
2001
Films
1939
1963
Fashion Design
1988
2015
Ceramics + Glass
1995
2009
Product Design
2008
2021
Designing with Light
2012
2019
Naval Architecture
1986
1997
Typography
1940
1953
Engineering Product
1968
1981
Dress
1972
1993
Goldsmithing
1936
1937
Glass, Pottery + Silver
1936
1945
Theatre Design
1991
1999
Interiors
1939
1961
Engineering Design
2012
2023
Photo of  Charlie Paton

Charlie Paton is a product developer, maker, designer and forester. His early success was the invention and development of motorised lighting for theatre, TV and concerts. For the past twenty years, he has been developing his Seawater Greenhouse concept, designed to produce food and water on barren land, in hot and arid coastal regions. It harnesses sunlight and seawater in a unique and inspired way, to create a virtuous cycle that produces fresh food and fresh water, in locations where shortages of both are a significant problem. Charlie has designed and built projects in five locations around the world; simple and elegant it is potentially life-changing for huge numbers of people living in deprived coastal regions. The design has received many awards; most recently the national winner of the 2018 Shell Springboard Award for low-carbon design.

RDInsights: Charlie Paton
Mike Dempsey RDI talks with designer Charlie Paton RDI about his passion to provide a low-cost solution to one of the world's greatest needs - fresh water in hot, arid areas of our planet.
56 mins
 
 
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The Makings of a Better World | In Conversation

Charlie Paton RDI and Elora Hardy RDI are designers whose innovations in architecture and agriculture are changing the world. Sit in on a unique online conversation as they meet, exchange notes and consider the contribution design can make to sustainable development.
45 mins
Photo of  Charlie Paton
World first fully automated studio lighting, 1988
World first fully automated studio lighting
1988
Power, fresh water, food crops and vegetation from sunlight and seawater, 2008
Power, fresh water, food crops and vegetation from sunlight and seawater
2008
Restorative agriculture using sea water in the Australian Outback, 2010
Restorative agriculture using sea water in the Australian Outback
2010
Credits from left to right
Strand Lighting Ltd
Concept illustration, Seawater Greenhouse Ltd
Concept illustration, Seawater Greenhouse Ltd
Commercial Art
1936
1939
Light Fittings
1940
1949
Furniture
1940
1947
Furniture
1944
1957
Lettering
1940
1943
Typography
1965
1979
Aircraft
1943
1965
Interior + Ships
1971
1977
Structural Engineering Design
1998
2007
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