From David Hockney to James Dyson, some of the world’s best-known artists and designers have studied or taught at the Royal College of Art. Now the RCA has launched a new exhibition about its 175-year history.

I visited the free show yesterday and was amazed at the breadth of work on display, from a real Porsche designed by RCA graduate Matthias Kulla, to David Hockney paintings from the 1960s, sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and a boat designed by James Dyson while he was still a student at the college.

I liked Gavin Turk’s blue plaque stating “Gavin Turk, Sculptor worked here”, which he famously exhibited in an empty studio for his degree show, and Tracey Emin’s The Perfect Place to Grow, a shed on stilts with a peephole that visitors are encouraged to look through.

Two of the most memorable artworks were a big cat made from coat hangers by David Mach (pictured above) and a sculpture made from plastic dolls’ heads joined together at the neck by Jake and Dinos Chapman.

I left feeling inspired and excited by the creative buzz at the RCA, and almost wishing that I could become a student again.

The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 Years of the Royal College of Art is on until 3 January