Bike to the Future exhibition at MODA features Dutch design

Sat, Mar 20 - Sat, Jun 5  2021

From March 20 – June 5, 2021 the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) will present Bike to the Future, an exhibition that will showcase the latest in bicycle design.  The exhibition will present a collection of contemporary models from the new millennium, including Philippe Starck’s electric bike ‘MASS’ and Tobias Knockaert’s laser-cut bicycle, as well as prototypes and experiments made with unusual materials to serve a variety of functions. Bike accessories will also be featured, such as the magnetic bicycle light ‘iFlash One’, designed by the Danish studio Kibisi, the ‘Hammerhead’ navigation system and the ‘Hövding’ airbag helmets.

The bicycle is beginning to have a profound impact on the development of towns and cities, provoking new design typologies and urban infrastructures that range from novel forms of parking, bike-specific bridges and tunnels to interventions like rain sensors for bicycles at traffic lights.

The exhibition will feature Dutch examples of bike infrastructure to show how cities can effectively incorporate bicycle transportation into the urban fabric, including the Van Gogh-Roosegaarde Bicycle Path in Eindhoven designed by Daan Roosegaarde, the Fietsenpakhuis / Bicycle Warehouse in Zaandam by Nunc Architects, the Melkwegbrug in Purmeren by NEXT Architects, the Cycle Park in Amsterdam by VenhoevenCS, and Coffee + Bikes in Delft by Bureauvaneig.  The exhibition will also feature the Bicycle Club (China), designed by NL Architects.

This exhibition was jointly developed by Design Museum Gent and the IMF Foundation. It was curated by Elisabetta Pisu.

Additional programming

Daan Roosegaarde, Van Gogh Path, courtesy of MODA and Studio Roosegaarde

Climate & Change: Landscapes of the Future with Daan Roosegaarde
Saturday, March 20, 2021
12:00 PM  1:30 PM

What are the landscapes of the future? How do we design a future with clean air, clean water, clean energy, and clean space?

Join MODA for a talk by speculative architect and artist Daan Roosegaarde, founder of Studio Roosegaarde, a team of designers and engineers that create projects at the intersection of art and technology such as Waterlicht (a virtual flood showing the power of water), Smog Free Project (the world’s first largest outdoor air purifier which turns smog into jewellery), Smart Highway (roads that charge throughout the day and glow at night), Space Waste Lab (visualizing and upcycling space waste), and Van Gogh Bike Path (a light-emitting bicycle path which glows at night and was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night).

About Daan Roosegaarde:

Roosegaarde’s work explores relations among people, technology and space. He is best known for fabricating future landscapes. His mantra “Schoonheid” is a Dutch word that has two meanings: “beauty” and “to clean,” as in clean air, clean energy and clean water. For Roosegaarde, “Schoonheid” is a fundamental condition of life.

He founded Studio Roosegaarde in 2007, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he works with a team of designers and engineers to improve daily living in urban environments. Studio Roosegarde has created public space commissions for such cities as Rotterdam, Beijing, Paris, Toronto and Stockholm. The Studio also initiates its own projects to research social innovations, gives lectures and has a pop-up studio in Shanghai.

Roosegaarde, who has won numerous innovation and design awards, has exhibited at the Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; Design Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Modern in London; Mori Art Museum in Tokyo; and Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. He has also been featured on Google Zeitgeist, a series of intimate gatherings of global thinkers and leaders, sponsored by the technology company.

VanMoof bicylces, image courtesy of MODA and VanMoof

Ride the Future: Van Moof Bikes
Thursday, March 25, 2021
12:00 PM  1:30 PM

VanMoof is a Dutch company that designs and builds city bikes with non-traditional appearance. The philosophy of the company is to build bikes as simple & robust as possible, so there are few parts that can break on the bike.

VanMoof bikes have a frame with a distinctive continuous oversized top tube containing the light beams. Its design stands out and is easily recognized. Founder and CEO Taco Carlier says “More than half of the world’s population lives in city centers. This is putting an increasingly heavy burden on traditional means of inner city transport. We believe this asks for a new and fresh approach to inner city mobility.”

Daniel Rekkers, photo courtesy of MODA and VanMoof

About Daniel Rekkers

Daniel Rekkers, business leader at VanMoof, a bike-meets-tech company with the mission to get the next billion on bikes. VanMoof bikes are the commuter e-bikes of the future – truly city-proof, they shrink long commutes, scare off bike thieves, and amplify pedal power with electric assist. No wonder cities around the world are scrambling to build more bike lanes.