13 August 2012
Cycle Chic Postcard – Beijing
When I lived in Beijing (1994 to 99) there were masses of bicycles in the streets. Private cars were virtually non-existent. Not so today. The bikes are all but gone.
Instead hundreds of thousands of private vehicles flood the streets. While the – excellent – Metro sweeps up a large part of the remaining commuters (alas - no bikes allowed here).
It’s a pity because it was plain to see it coming. I remember discussing traffic planning with Beijing officials. They complained about having “too many bicycles”. My reply? “Just wait until you have too many cars…”.
The situation will not change any time soon. But there’s still hope. First, because nearly all Chinese still learn how to bike. Second, because the Chinese are actually pretty smart urban planners – they have noticed the surge in urban cycling elsewhere.
But most importantly, the City’s extensive bicycle infrastructure remains widely intact. I hope that the cyclists come back before cars are allowed to encroach on all that precious space.
Happy Cycling!
11 August 2012
Sunset Boulevard
10 August 2012
Bike Shares Around the Republic, Part I
Barcelona's bicing |
Copenhagen's City Bike |
Velib in Paris |
dublinbikes |
Moving people and furniture. One Montreal Bixi at a time.
9 August 2012
Copenhagen Hats
8 August 2012
Dublin Cycle Chic
Copenhagenize was recently in Dublin on business. Between meetings there was plenty of time for seeing the streets and people of Dublin.
Pretty certain this girl is riding the same bicycle as the gentleman in the first image. Coincidence? Funkalicious new leopard print bike share bikes?
Looks like baskets beat out front racks in Dublin.
This shot from an earlier trip to launch Dublin Cycle Chic. Here you can see a film from the fashion show. Chances are you'll be seeing a few more photos like the one above as today kicks off Copenhagen Fashion Week.
7 August 2012
Copenhagen Summertime
Some of you may have noticed that Mikael hasn't been the one posting the last few blog entries. Because the lucky dog is on holiday in Croatia. So, while he's gone, we're taking advantage of Copenhagen's own little seaside escape.
The beach is close, but not central to the city, so bicycles (and the metro) are the most popular way to get there.
Beachside bars with signs that read 'open when the sun is shining', vendors selling fresh green peas and ripe cherries, and gently rotating wind mills create a pretty warm landscape to complement the city's otherwise Nordic Cool attitude. Not bad Copenhagen, not bad at all.
Labels:
beach,
bicycle baskets,
bicycling in skirts and dresses,
friends,
parking,
summer,
sun,
swim,
wind
6 August 2012
Classic “T”
4 August 2012
Super Sized Cycles
New York is famous for being the city of super sizes. I'm sure the bikes over there are even larger than ours, but Copenhagen also has its share of over sized bikes.
The happy bar tender above is celebrating that Friday night is finally over - and now his party can begin! The cycle taxi below not only carries Copenhagen's largest cycling canopy it also has an array of gps, music and other gadgets to go.
Some shops have found out that cargo bikes work well in the city centre. Here an adapted cargo bike for a window repair shop.
Yep, four seats across this impressive cycle taxi. Must be the broadest bike in town.
Sometimes only the sky is the limit!
Happy Cycling!
3 August 2012
Friday Night Lights
Vienna Cycle Chic |
Vitoria Cycle Chic |
Copenhagen summer night |
Copenhagen summer night/morning, bridge jumping into the canal |
2 August 2012
Good Design
There is something relaxing, visually pleasing, satisfying even, about objects that are organised nicely and neatly. Probably why we are fans of the photo blog, Things Organized Neatly. So, we set out to find examples of bicycles organised neatly. Something like this...
Photo shoot for Jopo Bikes.
or this...
Bamboo getting ready to be made into bicycles in Sao Paulo.
Occasionally the City of Copenhagen does a nice job cleaning up and organising the bikes for us. Not least with their Bicycle Butlers.
One of the closest every day sights we found, was this arrangement at a Copenhagen train station. Adequate, efficient, and typical Scandinavian minimalism.
More often than not, it's slightly more chaotic, bicycles ending up like a heap of stuffed animals. Loved, well-used, lost, sometimes forgotten.
Do you have examples of good design? Design that encourages order and aesthetics and would organise all these bicycles neatly. We'd love to see it.
1 August 2012
Art and Elegance
Exquisite red light posture.
We've always thought of it as an urban dance, not least with our project, The Choreography of an Urban Intersection, but these guys gracefully set into motion an urban bicycle ballet.
Labels:
art,
balloons,
black and white shots,
dance,
elderly cyclists,
hat,
posture
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