Hasta La Ideas

Thirty-four teams of top designers and custom bike builders compete to create the ultimate urban bike

The push to leave the car at home in favor of commuting by bicycle now weighs on urban communities more than ever, and with a shortage of urban-minded bicycle design on the market the choice isn’t an easy one to make. To help find a solution, the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge has brought together some of the most talented designers and custom bike builders in the country tasked with creating the ideal modern utility bike. The concept and design process started in February 2011 and has just recently come to a conclusion on 24 September.

Outside of the actual competition were three Creative Collaborations by globally renowned design firms working with some top American craftsman. A highlight of the collaborations was California-based Fuseproject and Sycip. The Yves Behar lead firm designed the three wheeled Local while Sycip’s custom build team brought it to life. Designed to be “the perfect neighborhood bike,” it addresses the needs of daily life from visiting friends, grocery shopping, to taking the kids to the park and even going surfing.

The unique design/build competition included 34 professional “Constructors” from ten states. Earning himself a first place prize and $3,000 in winnings was Tony Pereira of Pereira Cycles. The Portland native designed his car replacement with an electric assist motor and a sound system, hoping to ease the transition from car to bicycle. Fellow Portlanders Tsunehiro Cycles and Silas Beebe/ID+ and Cielo by Chris King came in second and third place for their tough looking utility cruisers.

Taking top place for the student teams was University of Oregon. The large design team included students from multiple terms that saw the project from initial concept design through to the finished product. Included in the beginning ideation and research was the now graduated Andrew Lindley who described the campus bike as a blend of “utility and portability to enhance the urban cycling experience.” The compact geometry vies to make commuting safer and parking easier with a retractable kickstand and rear rack. Such innovative touches compelled legendary Nike design guru Tinker Hatfield to say the bike was a “fresh, creative approach… the future.”

The winning bicycles and Creative Collaborations will be on show in Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft from 17 September through 29 October.

Competition: we’ve teamed up with Brownbook magazine to give away five copies of their latest issue plus five copies of their recently published book Evolving Spaces.

Brownbook features contemporary Middle Eastern culture and issue 29 has a particular focus on fashion, from cotton factories in Egypt to catwalk shows in Sudan.

Evolving Spaces comprises a photo essay shot by Charlie Koolhaas in Dubai over the past five years, plus a report on the city’s cultural district Al Quoz written by Ahmed Makia.

Each of the five winners will receive one copy of Brownbook issue 29 and one copy of Evolving Spaces.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Brownbook” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 11 October 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

You can follow Brownbook on Twitter and Facebook.

Here are some more details from the publishers:

BROWNBOOK magazine is an urban guide to the Middle East, which prides itself on giving a voice to the lesser-told tales of the Middle Eastern and North Africa region. On the ground reporters and photographers take the time to speak to the people and profile the places shaping the contemporary creative community and, in each issue, they go into depth over a chosen agenda topic.

The current issue, BROWNBOOK 29, is focused on fashion, exploring the regional industry from textile sourcing to design. The team visits cotton factories in Egypt, cover catwalks in Sudan and profile up and coming designers including Sultan al Darmaki, who has just had his shoes added to the contemporary collection at London’s V&A Museum.

In the rest of the issue BROWNBOOK talks to Newsha Tavakolian who after beginning her career as one of Iran’s youngest female press photographers, is now an exhibiting artist and profiles the lives of Iranian women.

They also visit the newly constructed Opera House in Muscat, which promises to become a cultural landmark across the Gulf, and speak to the newly appointed director Iman al Hindawi.

For Diaspora, the team speaks to Middle Easterners living outside the region, visiting Karim-Antoine Habib, one of BMW’s chief designers in Germany and talk to him about the history of design.

As a multimedia platform, BROWNBOOK Publishing regularly host events, pop up shops and we produce video content. As part of Shubbak, the first festival dedicated to contemporary Arab art in London, Brownbook hosted a week long event called Dubai Futures, in collaboration with Falcon and Associates.

For the event, an exhibition of photographs and an evening of talks with leading creative thinkers, we also launched a book – Evolving Spaces. The book was a photo essay of Dubai from the last five years by Charlie Koolhaas and an indepth study of Al Quoz, Dubai’s newest cultural district, by Ahmed Makia.

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Competition: we’ve teamed up with Max Fraser, author of the London Design Guide, to give away five signed copies of the brand-new 2012-2013 edition.

The 208 page paperback features 140 design retailers, galleries and museums across London plus a further 100 bars, restaurants and cafes, all categorised according to neighbourhood and accompanied by detailed maps.

The guide also includes walking tours by local design figures including Sheridan Coakley, Tom Dixon and Kit Kemp, plus short essays by Naomi Cleaver, Hugh Pearman, Libby Sellers and more.

This is the second edition of the London Design Guide (see last year’s edition here) published by Spotlight Press, which also publishes our own Dezeen Book of Ideas.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “London Design Guide” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 4 October 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

Here are some more details from Spotlight Press:

London Design Guide 2012-2013 edition
Edited by Max Fraser

Following the success of the first edition, London’s only comprehensive design guide returns with a totally updated and rewritten second edition.

London Design Guide 2012-2013 gives a fresh insight into the city’s contemporary and vintage retailers, as well as design galleries, museums and bookshops. All 140 new and established hotspots are compiled and reviewed by design commentator Max Fraser.

Shops are categorised by neighbourhood and accompanied by detailed maps – plus walking tours written by local tastemakers including Sheridan Coakley, Tom Dixon and Kit Kemp – to help navigate the best that the city has to offer. You’ll find restaurant, bar and café recommendations, selected as much for their design credentials as for the quality of food and service. And we’ve commissioned 10 short essays by local experts including Naomi Cleaver, Hugh Pearman and Libby Sellers, each discussing an aspect of the industry, be it producing, selling, communicating, collecting, even discarding design.

The 2012-2013 edition also introduces 4×4, a new 16-page supplement featuring the top furniture, lighting and accessories designs in store. The survey does your homework for you, evaluating the designs based on quality and longevity.

The 208-page LONDON DESIGN GUIDE is a snapshot of the design scene today, a celebration of creativity and a practical tool for Londoners and tourists alike. There’s no better incentive for exploring the wealth of design in the capital.

About the Editor

Max Fraser is a design commentator, author and publisher whose work broadens the conversation around contemporary design. He has authored several design books, including Deign UK and Designers on Design (co-written by Sir Terence Conran). Fraser is the founder of Spotlight Press, an independent imprint that publishes London Design Guide and Dezeen Book of Ideas, both out this year.
specification:

Retail price: £12
Publication date: 15 September 2011
Publisher: Spotlight Press
Pagination: 208 pp
Format: 208 x 135mm portrait
Binding: paperback, thread-sewn
Availability: worldwide
ISBN: 978-0-9563098-1-5

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Competition: we’ve teamed up with structural engineers Fluid Structures to offer Dezeen readers the chance to win one of ten copies of their book, entitled Adventures in Engineering.

Written by the company’s founder David Crookes, the 248-page book presents their experimental structures that range from staircases and bookshelves to houses, exhibitions and bridges in glass, steel, stone, aluminium and timber.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Fluid Structures” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 13 September 2011. Ten winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

Here are some more details from Fluid Structures:

This new book has been very well received by both the architectural and engineering communities. It deals with the position to be taken by a design engineer in the creative process and sets out the issues that will inform his/her contribution. The book examines various materials in terms of their creative potential.

Over 240 pages about designing in aluminum, glass, masonry, steel and timber. The book is also filled with technical information and details but is very suitable for use by architects and designers as it is more focused on buildability and details rather than analysis or complicated engineering.

“One of the new breed of design engineering companies that have emerged on the scene in the past few years, in the 12 years since its foundation in 1999 it is perhaps Fluid Structures that has made the biggest impression. Working with many of the UK’s leading architects and under the guiding hand of its founder David Crookes, the company has produced an impressive sequence of innovative structural solutions, characterised by a bold use of materials often used in new ways. Working from first principles and with an extensive knowledge of new systems and techniques, Fluid Structures has created structures in aluminum, glass, masonry, steel and timber, many of which are explored and explained here for the first time, each accompanied by a wry commentary on their genesis and production.”

In his introduction to ‘Adventures in Engineering’ Ken Shuttleworth (Founding partner of MAKE) writes;

“Fluid don’t see themselves as innovators but rather use a process of exploration and experimentation to generate ideas through the materials themselves. They believe this is the way forward, rather than offering off-the-wall suggestions without research. They are process-driven rather than solution-focused; they are fascinated by the journey rather than jumping straight to the end. They make the impossible seem easy, the difficult look refined and the finite seem infinite. This book is a testament to exploration and an inspiration to adventurers everywhere.”

In his review of ‘Adventures in Engineering’ for the Institution of Structural Engineers, Bob Wilson writes;

“You won’t find out about giant power-station jobs or similar constructions but you will find out about the skill, attention and patience needed to engineer bijoux projects. You may discover a most appealing sphere of structural engineering quite different from the rougher perception of regular work: one that could lure you into its lifestyle? Do read this book and keep it for further reference!”

The book addresses many contemporary forms encountered by architects and designers including staircases in steel, glass or aluminum, structural glass bookcases, innovative extensions, interventions in masonry, curved timber exhibition spaces and steel bridges.

It brings together the worlds of Architecture, Engineering and Design, highlighting a design process which is a synthesis of the different disciplines.

About the Author

David Crookes graduated as a structural engineer in 1984 and set up Fluid Structures in 1999. After graduating, he was employed in a variety of engineering offices in the UK and worked abroad in Europe and Africa for both architects and engineers. Between 1997 and 2007 he was involved in teaching at the University of Westminster, both at Degree and Diploma level in Architecture and he is currently a visiting fellow in Engineering at South Bank University. He also continues to teach in various schools of architecture. David has considerable experience in the design of contemporary structures and has worked with many of today’s cutting-edge designers and architects. He has pioneered the practice’s research and development agenda and has been instrumental in developing Fluid Structure’s in-house expertise regarding glass structures and lightweight forms.

Product details
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Watermark Publications (UK) Ltd; First edition (1 May 2011)
ISBN-10: 1873200722
ISBN-13: 978-1873200728
Product Dimensions: 23 x 21 x 2.2 cm

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Frame and Moooi join forces to host a product design award.
Eligible for the award are furniture and lamps that have been designed
for a specific ..