Ever needed to park your bicycle downtown but you just couldn’t find tall enough artificial vegetation to lock up to? The Downtown Austin Alliance has your back, in a big way!
Following the lead of similar projects in Louisville, New York City and other places, the DAA is almost ready to give the cycling community three exciting new art installations downtown that ALSO serve as great bike parking. Over six months, they collected entries from local artists, and now have winners for this first set. All of the first installations will be on Congress: 401 Congress, 600 Congress, and 816 Congress. Why? Because the property owners at those buildings are helping pay to make it happen. When there are more to put up, they may be seen on Sixth as well.
So let’s check these winning concepts out. They are fantastic.
Stem Rack, by Ann Armstrong
Lost in the misty haze of downtown and just need to grab some coffee?
Among the concerns expressed to the DAA was that these are not native plants. No, I’m not joking. (more pics below the fold)
Gear Grove, by Ben Harman
Watch out, those are real recycled cogs. If you're emo, you could cut yourself on them.
And lastly,
Sprout Stop, by Kezia and Tom Simister
Where to lock exactly is a little confusing on this one, but trust me, it's in there.
So, which one do you like the most? My favorite, really, is the Gear Grove because it incorporates bicycle parts into the design, and is really simple and elegant. The possibility of catching a bicycle thief in the act and bashing their head against sharp gear edges is also really appealing.
Speak up if you want ‘em
If these art installations are going to finally go from concept to reality, the Downtown Austin Alliance needs to hear from you. Send a message of support to Lacy at the DAA, and especially mention how bad we need the bicycle parking downtown, what with thousands of parking meters about to go away.
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:54 am
They’re all pretty cool, but one thing has always bothered me about bike racks. If you have a non-kickstand bike, why would you want to scrape your paint against a bare metal bike rack? Why can’t they be rubberized? Nobody would accept car parking where you had to rub your car against a metal pole. If you’re really careful you can make contact with the saddle, cranks or handlebar, but it seems inevitably you slip and there’s another scrape.
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I would guess perhaps for maintenance issues? Not sure actually. I agree with your sentiment there. However, maybe it’s just an argument for even more durable paint jobs on our bikes, ’cause there’s never any guarantee you’ll even be able to park at a bike rack, much less one that was rubberized (if there were any).
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Re: stem rack
Elephant ears are not just non-native as you point out, but also an “invasive plant to avoid” according to the city of austin.
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/invasive.htm
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Well I suppose if they’re an invasive plant to avoid then maybe people won’t jack my bike when it’s parked to a facsimile of one!
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
While it’s all very well and good to try and incorporate aesthetics into bike parking, it seems ridiculous to sacrifice usability in order to do so. It’s obvious these designers are not frequent bicyclists, or they might have thought a little harder on the logistics of actually locking a bike up.
How are you going to fit a U-lock around those blades of grass? And what use is having a ten foot structure if you can only lock your bike up to the lower third of it?
The reason the current upside-down U is so prevalent is because it’s compact and you can easily move your bike around in order to find the most secure position for locking. Making them prettier is certainly a nice thought, but you can fit more bikes more securely on those than you can on any of these suggestions. It seems ludicrous to move forward on such a flawed design concept.
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
It’s a secret, but the blades of grass design actually has a specifically cut rectangular section out of each blade for a lock to slide through.
I disagree that this is ludicrous. I think this is an important statement about the importance of both street aesthetics and bicycle transportation.
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Sure, street aesthetics and bicycle transportation are important, but settling for something that doesn’t work that well for the sake of having *something* to show is a compromise that doesn’t sit right with me.
I like the idea, I like the enthusiasm and the intent, but the product is lacking, in my opinion. The are a minimal number of bikes you can actually lock to these, and they don’t offer a substantial increase in bicycle parking unless you install a really significant number – which is unlikely. So why push so hard? Just so we can point and say, “Look, we’re doing something!”?
Surely there are some more intrepid souls out there with untapped ideas on bicycle parking infrastructure that is both functional and pleasing to the eye.
on Feb 21st, 2009 at 8:56 am
Cripes….Lighten up. This is something different, unique, and it highlights a connection between the arts and bicycling. Form should take precedence over functionality in these cases. It’s not like we’re going to have an onslaught of public art bike parking any time again….so embrace and move on. The only thing that I think needs to be decided is where to put them??
on Feb 21st, 2009 at 9:48 am
Art is in the eye of the beholder so there are always going to be critics. That’s the risk but I think the reward outweighs the risk. Otherwise all our public spaces will look like Soviet era, soulless blocks.