XICUI Entertainment Center

Simone Giostra & Partners [my former Thesis instructor]. He gave a lecture to our class about his work and I remember this project...

Beijing, China

http://www.sgp-architects.com/

FROM MY COMMENT IN REGARDS TO THE LAST POST:
also, what about embedding the lighting within some of the hexagons [in addition to the rings of light within the skin]? - like each hexagon could be thought of like a pixel. we could project images and possibly advertisements along the skin of the silos. and these pixel hexagon lights could also reflect the storage capacity in their intensity. [see the next post for reference images]

of course, the scale of our silos is not as grand. but i still find the concept to be very strong and innovative.

...look what i made!

This is what I've been working on the past few days:






I've got a .skp file i can e-mail if anyone wants to play with it and get a specific view. I'm going to work on building the silo in sketchup (finally) today/tonight and then I'm going to photoshop them into some of the images Brandon took so they look at home, and that should provide us with some good visual material for the booklet/boards.

Please let me know what you think about this scheme for a "satellite hub" to the share system. Each Bollard is a stand-alone unit that is hard-wired into the municipal utilities, and is a secure way to store the Kø bikes as well as privately owned bicycles.

Features:

• RFID Reader aligns with head-tube of Kø bike (where RFID tag will go) and communicates with the real-time database for the online component.
• Powder coated steel bollard and lock-ring adequitely resist corrosion in harsh and salinated conditions (seaside)
• User Interface features standard 10 button numerical pad for manual operation (non-member use), a short-range RFID reader compatible with bank cards and membership card, a magnetic strip swipe for standard bank/credit cards; and a big, friendly screen for visual confirmation and information.
• A happy looking flower pot is integrated into the top of the prefabricated bollard and filled with soil and a nice flower. The pot drains through a week-hole (not modeled) at the base of the bollard to allow for the plant's natural aspiration from both above and below.
• Nice blue colour mimics that of the copenhagen bike lanes, reaffirming their connection to Copenhagen's transportation and ambulation network.

So I would like people to wiegh in on a few things with regard to the design of the bollards. things like color, function, useability, etc... Though bear in mind there are a couple of obvious problems with the design which I will explain away right now...

I figured the lock ring going around the head tube was the simplest and most efficient manner for locking given the propensity for trash and scum to collect in those wheel-slot locking systems. I think we should definitely use more economical anti-wheel-theft solutions such as keyed skewers:


The maintenance worker could be the only ones with access to a key that would release the wheel.

Also, I know the bike is red and not yellow like in Philip's diagrams, but a.) that color can be quickly changed in sketchup; and b.) red or yellow bollards look either like safety equipment or dumb so blue, being the next primary color, worked best and looked the nicest to me, but then with a bunch of yellow bikes all around it started to look like a lo-fi IKEA ad.

Finally, I know the bike isn't quite the same as Philip's design, I tried to find a model of a city bike that I could tweak to look like ours but this was as close as I could get without surpassing my abilities in sketchup/modeling for days on end...

a few interesting things:

a pedal powered bar via Inhabitat


And then I ran across this article which points out some of the shortcomings of the Paris bike share; including but not limited to - theft (one found in Romania), defacement, getting tossed in the Seine, etc...

food for thought

Booklet format + Mock web application

Booklet format:
Last night we dicussed the booklet format and how we can tell the 'story' of our proposal thru a narrative as opposed to the cut-and-dryness of filling each page with our solutions to each criteria. So we can tell the story of the 3 personas/target users: The Commuter, The Tourist, and The Copenhagener thru their individual experiences in using the KØ bike share program [while hitting upon each target users unique experience with the criteria - bike design; storage; booking, access & payment while keeping in mind the overall concept; design and form; visibility, user-friendliness and logistics; and interaction with the city.]

Here is an example of the mock web application and how each target user's experience is unique [content subject to change]:

The Commuter/The Copenhagener:








The Tourist

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

a red, yellow, and blue interactive booth/RFID card dispenser:



quickie collages using erik's sketches, philip's bicycle and interactive booth/dispenser:






the red, yellow and blue isnt 100% on point... i really like the yellow and blue together [but as erik mentioned, this may be too SWEDISH - noooooo!] i like how philip used the two tones of blue and yellow as the main component colors with an accent of red.

this definitely needs a big helping of REFINEMENT. tonight, Erik and I have discussed that we will work on how the booking, access and payment [booth/dispenser] can be integrated in with the storage [silo]. i will also continue to work on simulating the web/smart phone web applications. see you all tonight!

...scans n' things

So I finally got around to scanning and playing with (a la photoshop) my many sketches; here are a few for your general amusement/use:

First there was this thing:

Not terribly relevant now, I know, but here for the sake of posterity nonetheless.

Next is that silly diagram thing I did explaining how bikes would be dredged out of the harbor for re-use... While I agree with Philip that this might not be the best idea for bikes intended to be ridden, perhaps a similar diagram could be used to explain how they are converted into bike racks, for instance.


And then there's the silo...

conceptual sketch

sketch showing implementation in front of the størmagasinet. (I think this one looked a lot better before I got all whimsical with the colouring.)

Sketch showing broader implementation at the Kongens Nytorv metro station.

In photoshop, I added some moody tones. Strangely, whenever I imagine Copenhagen, it's always dark out...

And then some colour... (As I mentioned above, for some reason, I frequently feel as though I destroy some of my best sketches by colouring them, but photoshop proved to be an ally in that regard [note the awesome foliage I added!!])

logistsics: booking, access + payment

4.1.1 THE BICYCLE DESIGN

What will the bicycle in the future bike share system look like?
Mixte bike frame, yellow color. Carbon Belt System. Built-in lights and basket. Carbon belt system. Two sizes: small and large.
Cargo bike

How will it work?


4.1.2 Storage

How is the bicycle stored when not in use?
Silos. Hexagonal wire mesh with green indigenous plants IN DRAWING:[include lighting, air pumps, interactive touch-screen LCD panel with the Ko website - for booking and payment purposes -, RFID card dispenser, unique silo number - for access thru text message]
Ballards
Re-cycled salvaged bicycle parts


4.1.3 [LOGISTICS] BOOKING, ACCESS AND PAYMENT

How do you book a bicycle from the bike share system?
There are a number of options, one is going to the “Ko” website and booking a bicycle from there.
Book a bicycle at the silos with a touch-screen LCD panel with the website.

How do you access a bicycle and drop it off again?
Radio Frequency IDentification [RFID]

How does the user pay/register for usage?
There will be RFID integrated in the new bike share bicycles to keep track of them in the system
[to be displayed on the web/phone application] and also as a direct form of sorting in the storage system.

There will be RFID cards for members to be obtained from signing up on the website
and then to be dispensed from the vending machines at the parking storage system.

If bicyclists with their own privately-owned bicycles wish to park their bicycles at the “Ko” silo, they will incur a minimal charge.





La Rochelle's bike share uses yellow bikes... http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2009/10/french-bicycle-advocate-cycle-chic.html

...Ninjas on the net

Just so I have this handy for the meeting in an hour and a half, I'd mentioned these diagrams that are posted to the site ArchitectureMNP. Every week they post links to interesting stuff in the NOTN posts, but they(him, her?) always sticks a real interesting map or diagram at the top of each.

All streets in the US.

'objects orbiting earth'.

internet connections in europe

Cartogram showing countries' military spending

Fun stuff to say the least. Check out Ninjas on the Net posts here. There are lots of really interesting things linked in the posts too, though much of it would be only loosely related to what we're working on.

Anyway, i thought some of these might inform our graphic description of the network of bikes throughout danmark. perhaps we could make some approximation of useage and directionality and make a sweet map that could serve as an example of what their traffic analysts and urban planners would see from the incessant stream of RFID and GPS information coming in.

See y'all soon...

more photos of CPH

from Bing [formerly MSN]:
http://www.bing.com/maps/
click on Bird's Eye

please feel free to capture your own images!

also, i was thinking that we could grayscale these images and then have our interventions in color, ie:

vertical green surfaces

here are some links to some articles about the guy who created this southern face of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris which is an 8,600 square foot plant installation by the designer Patrick Blanc, featuring more than 170 different species.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/06/28/green.walls/index.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/gardening/the-only-way-is-up-patrick-blanc-the-master-of-vertical-gardening-reveals-his-tips-for-keeping-a-living-wall-alive-1669053.html


http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/mainen.php
this is Blanc's site.  He has a lot of fantastic projects. 

"The most important thing is the stuff the plants actually grow in: as a kid, Blanc first experimented with growing the plants on washing-up cloths, but there have been a few refinements since then. "First we build a metal framework, to hold the wall away from the stone. Then, a layer of PVC, and then we use this cloth – it's an artificial felt – for the plants to grow in." These are then watered with a nutrient mix dripping continuously through the fabric. "  from the Independent

STORAGE: green wall [images]

wire mesh

ivy, greenery

porous

a quick collage with the Copenhagen skyline [to be worked on further]:

Images for collage/contextual diagram/etc

a bit haphazard, but if you like what you see, just Save Picture As and start collaging/diagramming. [Click to enlarge before saving.] Source material can be found via Properties and Google search "Copenhagen Skyline" or "Copenhagen bicycle"