The RSA Bicentenary Medal was instituted in 1954 to commemorate the founding of the RSA over two hundred years earlier and has been awarded annually to a variety of individuals for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of design in industry and society.
In 2021, the medal was awarded to a person who has made an outstanding and demonstrable contribution, through their design practice, towards an equitable and regenerative world where people and planet flourish hand-in-hand in the long-term. This aligns with The RSA’s evolving ambitions for where design’s application is most needed today, in response to the climate emergency.
Dr Wahl works internationally as a consultant and educator in regenerative design, whole systems design and transformative innovation.
Deanna Van Buren is the design director and co-founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJ+DS), an architecture and real estate development firm that works across disciplines to attack the root causes of mass incarceration.
Andrea Cooper (previously Siodmok), Head of the Cabinet Office Policy Lab explores how design is helping government think differently about future policy.
Susan Woodward OBE, founding director of The Space and Sharp Projects and Creative Media Champion for the City of Manchester, explains how re-designing urban environments sparks dynamism and connectivity.
London Borough of Lewisham chief executive Barry Quirk discussed how he has used design as a tool in making public services better, quicker and cheaper.
Dr Ken Arnold talks about contemporary interactions between the arts and sciences and how humanity's core concern with health, medicine and wellbeing can be explored within a cultural context.
1954 Sir Colin Anderson
1955 Sir Charles Tennyson
1956 Sir Walter Worboys
1957 Sir Ernest Goodale
1958 John Gloag
1959 Frank A Mercer
1960 J Cleveland Belle
1961 Audrey Withers
1962 Sir Robin Darwin
1963 Sir Paul Reilly
1964 Anthony S Heal
1965 Hans Juda
1966 G Graham McK Hughes
1967 Harold Glover
1968 Marcus Brumwell
1969 Sir Duncan Oppenheim
1970 T H C Worthington
1971 Sir James Richards
1972 Rosamind and Leslie Julius
1973 James S Cousins
1974 Geoffrey Dunn
1975 Viscount Eccles
1976 Jack Pritchard
1977 Brooke Crutchley
1979 Sir William Coldstream
1980 Viscount Caldecote
1981 Deryck Healey
1982 Sir Terence Conran
1983 David Maroni
1984 Rowley Atterbury
1985 Sir Kenneth Corfield
1986 John Butcher
1987 Fiona MacCarthy
1988 Peter Gorb
1989 Louis van Praag
1990 Sir Peter Parker
1991 Sir Norman Payne
1992 Jeremy Fry
1993 Marquess of Bute
1994 Helen Auty
1995 Sir John Egan
1996 Zeev Aram
1997 Margaret Harris
1998 John Sorrell
1999 Stuart Lipton
2000 Wally Olins
2001 Sir Christopher Frayling
2002 Lady Hamlyn
2004 Deyan Sudjic
2005 Sheridan Coakley
2007 Lord Puttnam
2008 Tom Bloxham
2009 Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr
2010 David Constantine
2011 Ken Arnold
2013 Barry Quirk
2014 Susan Woodward
2015 Andrea Siodmok
2017 Mary Mullin
2018 Deanna Van Buren
2021 Dr Daniel Christian Wahl
We are delighted to award Dr Daniel Christian Wahl the 2021 Bicentenary Medal, recognising his over 20 years of research and professional practice in regenerative design and development, whole systems design and transformative innovation.
Discover more about this RSA programme which explores how we can create a future where people and planet flourish hand-in-hand.
Recognising outstanding contributions in design since 1954.