Hasta La Ideas

This past weekend was the occasion for the second annual New Amsterdam Bicycle Show, a one-stop expo for a diverse group of cycling-related brands and upstarts. While it’s quickly become one of the major cyclist-centric events in the city, marking the felicitous intersection of Dutch sponsors such as KLM and New York’s own Transportation Alternatives, the show is still an order of magnitude smaller than similar events on the West Coast.

TA provided complimentary bike valet service

Nevertheless, the strong attendance—some 4,500 cycling enthusiasts over two days—affirmed the growing popularity of pedal power, not least because the crowd represented a reasonably accurate cross-section of the NYC cycling faithful. In addition to the exhibitors in the entrance hall and the main atrium, the New Amsterdam programming included a solid lineup of notable speakers.

From L to R: Moderator Matt Seaton, Tom Vanderbilt, Lara Lebeiko & Caroline Samponaro

The panel on bike lanes—featuring writers Tom Vanderbilt and Matt Seaton alongside Caroline Samponaro of Transportation Alternatives and Lara Lebeiko of Bicycle Habitat—was interesting for its breadth, as the issues surrounding infrastructure served as a point of departure for a variety of topics related to cycling in the city. (I, for one, learned about the “Idaho Stop” law.)

Bicycle Habitat‘s Soho location happens to be the closest bike shop to Core HQ…

Yet it’s more or less a given that these types of events are a canonical case of ‘preaching to the choir’—literally, in the case of Eben Weiss, better known as BikeSnobNYC, who suggested that cycling become a religion for greater legal recognition. The Brooklyn-based writer and sometime competitive cyclist attracted the largest crowd of all the speakers, filling the makeshift auditorium with longtime readers (myself included), who relished the rare opportunity to hear the inimitable BikeSnob speak in person. True to his uncompromisingly snarky web persona, Weiss delivered an incisive, entertaining presentation on both cycling policy—in short, money, if not religion, is required to grease the wheels of justice—and his bread-and-butter of quotidian grievances. Ever the lovable curmudgeon, Weiss decried (among other things) cycling epiphenomena such as “shoaling,” “salmoning” and “circling” with the gusto of a stand-up comedian working the crowd… or, perhaps, an evangelist and his flock.

BikeSnob himself saw fit to poke fun at this wine bottle holder…

Ben Fried of Streetsblog

As for a takeaway message, every single one of the experts agreed that the conversation needs to move beyond traffic laws themselves towards an ethic of non-alienation: in short, to always yield to pedestrians. In his talk on Day Two, Ben Fried, Editor-in-Chief of Streetsblog, admitted that he’d roll through a light if he thought it was silly to wait, but that he always stops for pedestrians, even if he has right-of-way. Caroline Sampanaro of TA advised cyclists to adopt the practice as a sort of ‘golden rule’ of cycling; Tom Vanderbilt spun the saying “a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged” into “a conservative is a pedestrian who’s almost been hit by a cyclist (in a crosswalk).”

Bobbin Bicycles

Bookman lights are the only product that have the honor of being 1.) at this bike show, 2.) sold at the MoMA Store and 3.) a Core77 gift guide pick

Lastly, the forthcoming bike share program also came up in various contexts, specifically as a potential ‘tipping point’ for what Fried called the “mainsteaming” of cycling.

Seth Rosko started at Brooklyn Machine Works before starting his own shop

I first met Luke of Truce Designs at the Oregon Manifest—he made custom panniers for Cielo’s third place-winning entry

Iride‘s eye-catching red singlespeeds are handcrafted by master framebuilders in Italy

More bikes, gear and donuts (!) after the jump…

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The annual AIGA Awards are a little like the Oscars, but with better kerning, bolder eyeglasses, and much less Botox. At this year’s gala celebration, co-chaired by Pentagram’s DJ Stout and Su Mathews of Lippincott, guests were encouraged to wear hats shaped like buildings (make your own with this handy template). We dispatched graphic designer Prescott Perez-Fox to lash a cardboard Eiffel Tower to his head and scope out the scene.

From left, AIGA medalists Ralph Caplan, Robert Vogele, and Elaine Lustig Cohen with AIGA executive director Richard Grefé; reveling designers strike a pose in the urbane photo booth. (Photos: Angela Jimenez for AIGA; Denise Ginley and Steven Robinson)

Much like the return of migrating birds and an elevated pollen count, spring brings with it the design industry’s very own prom, the annual AIGA Awards. Last week’s event, entitled Bright Lights Big City and held in Manhattan at the Altman Building, didn’t make use of the pastel ubiquity of April, but instead opted for a deco-inspired architectural theme, where the entire event was set in black-and-white, referencing the Beaux Arts Ball of 1931 in which architects dressed in costumes of buildings they had designed. This year’s guests were invited to design and create hats in the shape of their favorite buildings, bringing some unexpected wit and levity set against the relative severity of black cocktail attire.

However, the focus of the evening isn’t fashion, it is to honor the newest recipients of the prestigious AIGA medal. This year’s honorees were not simply accomplished design professionals in their own right, but together represent four of the essential archetypes of design. Ralph Caplan represents The Observer, following his career as a design author and having gained the unique ability to find perspective and turn that into something informative and enticing. Elaine Lustig Cohen comes to us as The Artist, creating groundbreaking work in typography and illustration, and raising the status of the designer and of design as a whole. Armin Hoffmann is The Mentor, demonstrated by the generations of design students he taught directly, and the enduring popularity of the Swiss style so closely linked to him. Finally, Robert Vogele embodies The Entrepreneur, demonstrating that classic American story of a regular Joe who created a scrappy upstart that became a thriving business and influential design practice. To the younger designers in the audience, it was inspirational—our challenge is how to embrace these qualities in our careers and become the next archetypes of design.
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Ray Stitch is a very attractive shop. Here are some exterior photos before the Meet & Greet event, after (another) rain shower. Fitting, though, for issue #13 which is about how weather affects/inspires creativity.

More about the event and people pictures to follow in the next while. Thank you to everyone who came out and to Rachel and Michelle for their efforts, this great venue to meet my readers and for the all-round support of UPPERCASE. Thank you to Sam for the tasty food.

Please join me at Ray Stitch, tonight (Friday) at 7pm. Click here for directions. (If you want to purchase a copy of the latest issue (#13), Ray Stitch has the only copies in London.) It’s an evening of craft and conversation surrounded by the inspiring haberdashery and fabric selection offered by Ray Stitch. We’ll be stringing together colourful bead necklaces, an activity that was such a hit at the Alt Summit. It’s a free activity, easy and fun to do while noshing and sipping and talking.

See you!

If you’re not in London we have a consolation discount code: meetandgreet for $5 off your order until end of day Saturday. 

(Photos: Nico Neefs)

Bound for the Milan Furniture Fair yet short on time? Focus on the work of designers named Maarten! That will keep you plenty busy. Start at Ventura Lambrate, where Maarten Baas will have a bunch of new projects on display beginning tomorrow. Among them are spidery clay stools that Louise Bourgeois would have loved, a massive tablecloth woven—in a typeface called “Font of the Loom”—with the names of the inhabitants of Amsterdam (all 780,559 of them), and a still-under-wraps “kinetic object” for Laikingland. Also on view will be his Martin Puryear-esque “Empty Chair,” a 16-foot tall ladder-back seat created for Amnesty International in honor of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

The other Eindhoven-educated must-see Maarten is Maarten De Ceulaer, who’ll be exhibiting at three locations during the Salone del Mobile. Head to Rossana Orlandi and the Triennale di Milano to be charmed by his “Mutations” series (pictured). “The pieces in this series look like they weren’t made by hands, but have grown to their present form organically,” says the Brussels-based designer. “They might be the result of a mutation in cells, or the result of a chemical or nuclear reaction. Perhaps it’s a virus or bacteria that has grown dramatically out of scale.” In fact, De Ceulaer created the molecularly marvelous seating, a kind of deep-buttoned upholstery run amok, by carefully composing patterns with sections of foam spheres that are then applied to a structure. The final step is coating the entire piece in a rubbery or velvet-like finish. “It is largely impossible to ever recreate such a specific pattern,” he says, “so every piece is completely unique.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.