The Cycle Shift - Media Façade
The Cycle Shift is a playful media façade that aims to bring about a cultural shift in attitudes towards bike culture by increasing the visibility of bike movements in Sydney.
In Sydney, bicycles are not seen as credible forms of transport. This creates an air of danger and intimidation when cycling — a behavioural change as well as paradigm shift is required. The Cycle Shift Media Façade increases the visibility of cyclists by playfully multiplying current bike movements. We aim to bring about a much-needed cultural shift towards bike culture on the roads — to make bicycle awareness part of the cultural fabric of Sydneysiders.
Data from cyclists’ GPS data is routed into visuals on the façade in a high-density pedestrian tunnel: bicycles whizz past commuters in an artistic representation and multiplication of the current state of bicycles in transit. Commuters can interact with the façade through a silhouette of a bike that serendipitously follows each commuter on their daily walk, further connecting the public to cycle culture and engaging them in a playful interactive conversation through the once-mundane tunnel transfer.
Team
Kendrick Khoo
Mark C Mitchell
Hanley Weng
Emila Yang
This work was presented and awarded Winning Concept at the Media Architecture Biennale in Aarhus, Denmark.
Process
After defining the brief and conducting initial research and moodboarding, we began with some low-fi-cardsorting. Then we grabbed lunch and a few beers whilst we locked down our problem domain through the definition and discussion of civic themes and challenges, ensuring we addressed a civic challenge especially targeted to our locality.
User interviews and research into Sydney's action plans were conducted to ascertain the state of cycling in Sydney. We then did more intensive research, conceptual brainstorming, and synthesis of our idea. In the last hours; we storyboarded, wrote up, and filmed our final concept – The Cycle Shift.
Throughout the 24 hour design challenge, we live posted to our process blog, which details our full journey.
