Hasta La Ideas

The weather outside is beautiful, but we’re as busy as ever here at Core: in addition to the newly-launched Coroflot Genius Gallery and the Summer Gift Guide, we’re finally seeing the finish line for the First Annual Core77 Design Awards. We’re scheduling the live jury announcements throughout the middle of July, but in the meantime, we’ve got some great behind-the-scenes content for your viewing pleasure. Earlier this week, shared the process that went into the identity for the awards; today, we’re pleased to present a more in-depth look at one of our jury teams as they share their thoughts on the challenges at hand.

L to R: Lars Holme Larsen, Bjarke Ingels, Jens Martin Skibsted

While Lars Holme Larsen was the head of the Transportation Jury, his colleague and collaborator Jens Martin Skibsted certainly had a fair share of input as one of the jury members: he’s been designing award-winning transportation solutions for over decade. Along with rising starchitect Bjarke Ingels, the three Danish designers comprise the design überfirm KiBiSi. We had a chance to pick Skibsted’s brain about urban mobility and why it matters more today than ever before.

KiBiSi portfolio

Core77: KiBiSi certainly constitutes a high-profile “dream team” of Danish designers. Can you comment on the similarities and differences between the collaborative platform and your independent consultancy? Or is it a truly synergistic partnership?

Jens Martin Skibsted: KiBiSi has evolved from a loose constellation to a tight knit company. All product design assignments are made within the KiBiSi Company. Bjarke does all of his architectural work within BIG. I do bikes within Biomega and big-think stuff (books, brand consultancy, speeches) within Skibsted Ideation. Lars is now 100% KiBiSi. Within all frameworks we are driven by ideas. In KiBiSi, we are idea-driven together and we focus on industrial / product design.

The bicycle is arguably a canonical example of industrial design, one that embodies both form and function, and we’re always happy to share beautiful designs (at risk of becoming a cycle-centric blog). KiBiSi clearly shares this mentality, both through your unique designs and your strong sense of innovation. But at the end of the day, it’s about getting people to ride their bikes—new or vintage, beautiful or ugly, high-tech or low—is this goal beyond the scope of industrial design?

A conscientious designer seems to want to alter the scope of design from being the mercenary of consumption to the arbiter of moral consumption. Obviously designers can’t save the world, but they can nudge. Making bikes desirable is within the reach of designers—if they team up with visionary business people.

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