Unless you ride a bike to work, you probably could not begin to guess where one might find a bike rack in downtown DC. The Golden Triangle BID is hosting a contest to bring art to the streets and make sure you notice those bike racks in the future. After successfully installing the "Bike Here" rack in Dupont in Spring 2009, the BID is looking to add a few more to its 43 city blocks. Artists of all kinds are encouraged to submit a design to get a chance to have their work publicly displayed and to win a $1,500 honorarium.
The BID's goal is to bring a vibrancy to the street level and remind people of alternative transportation methods. That said, a winning design need merely be capable of supporting two bikes upright by its frame. It's not practical, it's art.Designs are due March 4th, selection will happen in April 2010 and final installation should occur by summer 2010.
7 comments:
Conceptually the Bike Here design seems clever but in real-world execution it's not effective at all. Once just a few bikes are parked there, the words will be illegible, thus eliminating the artistic quality which is the entire purpose of the design. At that point, why bother having a bike rack that expensive or clever?
it looks like someone took a hammer to it...and that last comment is just retarded...
When looking at and potentially using a bike rack—I'd rather have function over art any day. This thing just seems stupid. Gimme a stainless steel bike rack for just 10 bikes in place of this blob of "art."
I like this idea by the city. It goes hand in hand with DC's overall push to become a greener community, along with the plastic bag tax. In my opinion, ten years from now far more bikes will be roaming the DC streets.
You'd be stupid to leave your bike at a rack in DC.
The criminals would steal it before you even get to the metro platform.
LOL at Simon Landau. You really think the bag tax was about creating a "greener" city? Ha, ha. I guess the government tricked you into giving them more of your paycheck. Your plastic bags don't end up in the Anacostia river. And now i need to buy more bags for my garbage -- and those Glad bags aren't from recycled materials, whereas the bags from CVS usually are. Plus, now I have to drive to Target (in Alexandria, to avoid the parking fee and massive sales tax here in the district). That's an added cost to pollution.
Everything libs do only increases the power of government and reduces the power of the individual. All in the name of the "environment" of course. Not that there's any evidence that would justify their tax hikes.
As for these ugly bike racks, no one is going to use them any more than they use the government-subsidy bikes sitting around town.
Just waste, waste, waste. And we wonder why we're trillions in debt.
Aw come on...it's kinda cute, and it does makes you think 'bike'even before you read the words. It could be rendered more useful by raising it to a more visible level and adding a fully functioning bike rack in front or below it suitable for accomodating more bikes. It's a good Eye-DEA and could be more art-as-signage if installed differently. Of course...ART doesn't HAVE to be functional, just interesting and thought provoking. Less whining and more design...it might just work! Eye like it.
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