NYC CityRacks Design Finalists
The Department of Transportation along with Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Google and Transportation Alternatives have been sponsoring a CITYRACKS design competition. Yesterday, the designs of the ten finalists hit the streets and were put on display at the museum. The winner will be announced on October 24th. Make sure to check out the nearest public installation and comment on the finalists online before then.
[intro music]
Speaker: [00:02]
I like the one back there that kind of looks like a paperclip.
Yeah, I really like that. I think it’s really cool and modern.
Speaker: [00:08]
I think it’s good. I love this one but I’m scared I would
fall over it.
Speaker: [00:12]
I think my favourite bike rack is the one right down at the end there,
I think it would look great in a very historic setting. I think
it would look great in a very clean contemporary plaza.
Speaker: [00:20]
It definitely makes people pay attention more and realise that they
have the opportunity to get on their bike and go through this beautiful
city and then park their bikes. They have beautiful stands and
enjoy design at the same time.
Speaker: [00:33]
I think I could cut it. I think I could cut it.
[music]
Janette Sadik-Khan:
[00:44] This is a design competition that we’ve done with the Cooper-Hewitt
Design Museum in conjunction with Transportation Alternatives and Google.
And what we’re doing is coming up with a new standard bike rack for
New York City. We’ve got over 200 entries from 26 States and
24 countries, so we’re very excited about providing quality design
on the streets of New York that’s functional and attractive.
And on October 24th we will pick the finalist.
[music]
Paul Steely White:
[01:17] Improving the design is terrific but… and the quality, but
we also need to up the quantity if we’re going to make an impact.
The limiting factor for bike parking in New York and for bicycling is
really the lack of secure and safe and accessible bike parking.
And so we’re really encouraging the city to get these out there in
great numbers, because right now there’s a huge backlog. If
someone requests a bike rack, it can sometimes take as long as 18 months
for that rack to actually be installed.
[music]
Janette Sadik-Khan:
[01:44] I also want to recognise a couple of the finalists who are here
tonight.
Ignacio Ciocchini:
[01:48] This is my design back here and it was inspired by bike parts
and bicycling, and you can see how the metaphor of the wheel here and
the centre of the wheel, and also the green post that acts as the support
alludes to the green bike lanes that the city is having.
Andrew Lang: [02:06]
We want everybody to be able to interact with it, whether they’re
on two wheels or two feet. The fact that people are using it as
an occasional perch as they move around the street environment is exactly
what we want.
Jeff Miller: [02:20]
We designed this rack with a couple of features in mind. One is
to keep the lock from touching the ground because our research showed
that when a lock can touch the ground, it can be hammered and broken.
So this makes sure that your lock is always on the rail itself.
