Bike Rings by songwon
Pitch
Customizable bike racks or malleable urban scuptures subtley intervening in Kendall square, not disturbing the existing vibe of the area.
Description
Team Description
Architects and Painters
Design Summary
-High Density: Each unit is an individual sculpture, and its organic shape enables more than one bike can be engaged per unit.
-Accessible: Easy to approach from any direction. It automatically creates openings for the bike and the sculpture to connect.
-Cost Effective: It can be produced with one shape of mold that is made of one continuous line while it does not have generic appearance with sculptable part.
Design Approach
Our first impression of Kendall square was that the area appeared as diluted and desaturated. People and cars were moving but without any energetic mood. We felt the area was in need of vitality. However, rather than adding strong and standing out design approach, we wanted to suggest elegant and subtle intervention.
Existing fashion of bike parking in the area is a mix of old and new technology and spread thoughout Kendall square with no specific logic. Among these existing parking, we introduce rather malleable, soft edged parking units that could also be treated as urban sculptures. Short-term bike parking is intended for our design regarding the subtle attitude towards the area. Providing more parking spaces, we not only hope to slow down the pace of time, also wanted to make the moment around the area more celebrating and enjoyable.
Design Proposal
bike rings are malleable bike racks enabling bikers to customize the rack to their bikes. By subtle intervention not disturbing the existing vibe of the Kendall square, these soft edged parking units will slow down the pace of the area by providing more accessible and enjoyble bike parking experience. Furthremore, they also could be treated as urban sculptures, celebrating the moment of staying around the area. With existing parking structures, we expect bike rings will create not only bikers bu also passengers and residents friendly atmosphere.
design proposal image:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfscxvxbtck07p2/bikerings_songwon.jpg?dl=0
Estimated Production Costs
Steel reinforced rubber hose (or similar) @1.25" OD x 3ft _ $25 per unit
Steel Tube (or similar) @ 1.75" OD x 6ft _$85 per unit
Mold Production _$3,200 as needed
Labour _+a
Timeline
Prototyping in 2 weeks. (Production; 2 weeks of making, another 3 weeks of installing. )
Related proposals
References
http://oxboxer.deviantart.com/art/Gentlemen-Sacred-Geometry-322701723
http://dlwp.blogspot.com/2011/05/ryoanji-drawing-around-objects.html