Hasta La Ideas

German design studio Ding3000 has created a high-tech version of the first pedalled bicycle, introducing electric power and plastics to the 148-year-old invention (+ slideshow).

Ding3000 collaborated with chemical company BASF to create the Concept 1865 prototype bike, combining various plastics into a contemporary interpretation of an early bicycle.

BASF was founded in 1865, the year pedals were added to German inventor Karl Drais’ wooden Dandy Horse velocipede bicycle, so this provided the starting point for the new design.

Pedals attach directly to the centre of the front wheel, which is much larger than the supporting back wheel.

The electric motor is concealed beneath a blue disk on the back wheel, designed to protect it from water, dirt and stone chips.

An angular seat protrudes from the long part of the frame, which connects the handlebars to the rear wheel.

The battery is located in the seat, which can be detached and carried away with a handle so no one can ride off on the bike when its left unattended.

The same graphic pattern used over the seat padding is found on the tyre treads and handlebar grips.

Other details include pedals without bearings and LEDs integrated into the sections of frame located either side of both wheels.

Here’s some more text from the designers:

Concept 1865

Ding3000 designs an E-Velocipede made of high-performance plastics.

Conspicuous with its wheels of different sizes, the velocipede was the first pedal-powered cycle in history. Ding3000 and the chemical company BASF have now rebuilt the 19th-century bike as a modern e-bike. But why?

With the Concept 1865, we are taking a trip back to the year 1865, when BASF was founded. This was also the point in time when Karl Drais’ wooden Dandy Horse was given its first pedals, which launched the bicycle on the road to global success. As a tribute to this era of enthusiasm for technology and invention, Ding3000 and BASF have embarked on an unparalleled thought experiment and asked: How would the first pedal cycle have looked if the pioneers of the bike had had today’s advanced materials to work with?

In cooperation with BASF, Ding3000 has developed the E-Velocipede Concept 1865. It is a ready-to-ride prototype with an electric drive and 24 polymer applications, some of which are highly innovative like the bearingless all-plastic pedals made of Ultrason or the light and puncture-proof tires made of Infinergy.

By implementing this design study Ding3000 obviously does not intend to reinvent the bicycle, let alone the wheel. Under the slogan “Rethinking Materials”, the unusual e-bike is in fact an invitation to customers to join the company in developing new applications and product ideas utilising advanced plastics. It is an invitation to question the status quo and create something new – just as the pioneers of cycling did in their time.

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by Ding3000 appeared first on Dezeen.

Le directeur artistique Rikako Nagashima et l’artisan Hideto Hyoudou ont collaboré sur ce superbe projet Mizukagami, Water Mirror en japonais. Proposant dans une pièce divers miroirs pensés comme si ces derniers étaient liquides, cette pièce étrange est à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.

by Eva Glettner While every sneakerhead can differentiate a Jordan IV from a Jordan V, artist, designer and all around prolific creative Kevin Lyons wants to help educate those less obsessed with the iconic Continue Reading…

Un gruppo di amici, una pizza in compagnia e il risultato è una lampada. Non una lampada come tutte le altre, ma un progetto democratico e libero quanto commerciale. 01Lamp è una semplice lampada a led in cartone ondulato e fustellato da massimo 3mm (proprio come il cartone da pizza) che ospita al suo interno un cavo collegato a una fascia di LED. Una idea partorita dalle quattro menti fondatrici di FATTELO: Marco Trucchia (CEO), Daniele Schinaia (R&D Manager), Mattia Compagnucci (Art Director), Antonio Scribano (Project Menager); giovani designer sparsi per l’Europa che uniti dal fattore comune, Trucchia, hanno risposto alla chiamata del design sostenibile e per tutti.

Con rimandi al fai da te che fa tanto anni settanta e che oggi è tornato in voga e cavalca l’onda col suo nuovo scintillante nome internazionale “DIY”, FATTELO diventa un riferimento per i giovani designer e non; non tanto per l’aspetto formale ma quello del marketing. Lo sviluppo della lampada da tavolo è stato possibile grazie a Eppela e  Crowfundingo, 2 siti italiani di crowfunding che permettono a chi ha idee e non ha il capitale per svilupparle di riuscire nei propri intenti, grazie alla partecipazione libera di sponsor più o meno facoltosi che ricevono dei premi in base al loro investimento.

L’unione fa la forza e non solo, fa pure luce. Ingegno e intraprendenza hanno fatto di 01Lamp un simbolo democratico; si può scaricare gratuitamente i template per la creazione della lampada e costruirla con un cartone da pizza, o per i meno avvezzi ai lavori manuali si può comodamente ordinarla alla modica cifra di 40€, ricevendo così un efficiente packaging che è esso stesso la lampada, la quale non dovrò fare altro che staccarla, piegarla, montarla e accenderla. Insomma una sintesi che richiama il fai da te di Mari, il DIY Ikea e l’efficienza del packaging della lampada parentesi dei fratelli Castiglioni, il tutto rinnovato e condito dallo spopolante crowfunding che prende sempre più piede in questo periodo di crisi.

Dutch Design Week 2013: architecture studio Onix has inserted a wooden staircase inside a medieval Dutch church to provide access to the apex of the bell tower (+ slideshow).

Onix created the route to allow visitors to explore a previously inaccessible part of Uitwierde church, which is located in the Dutch province of Groningen.

Visitors are led past original building features, such as the clock and bells, while information boards tell the story of the tower’s history.

The angular bannister of the staircase changes height as it ascends, framing different views of the thirteenth-century building, and interior windows reveal details of the historic stonework.

The architects slotted the modern structure around the wooden beams that frame the tower, allowing them to jut through in some places.

A seating area is located on the uppermost section of the route and leads out a balcony offering views of the surrounding countryside.

Toren van Uitwierde, which translates as Tower of Uitwierde, won the Spatial category at last week’s Dutch Design Awards, where the selection committee said: “The design directs the gaze of the visitor in a surprising way. You move and you are guided by the design.”

Other winners included a concept for shrinking the human population, while the top prize went to Iris van Herpen’s fashion collection featuring 3D-printed garments.

Here’s a project description from Onix:

Tower of Uitwierde

On the northern edge of Delfzijl stands the tower of Uitwierde. For this tower, we have made a design so that the tower can be used as a viewpoint. The path to the viewpoint is designed as an experience path that shows the specific characteristics of the tower.

The tower consists of three distinctive areas: the dark basement (entrance), the vertical tower space and the space under the hood. These spaces are connected by the experience path in the form of a staircase. The closed railing of the stairs constantly changes height and thus leads the sight of the visitor. The path leads the visitor along specific points, such as the clock, the bells and the old construction, but also along information points that tell something about the history of the tower and its location. At the end of the route the path is also visible on the outside of the tower. Here is the viewpoint overlooking the surrounding countryside and in the distance, behind the dike, the water of the Ems.

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by Onix appeared first on Dezeen.