Cycle Shift - MAB Winning Concept

Brief

Design a concept for a dynamic media façade that can be used to build up a sustained relation to a civic theme or challenge through everyday participation - with a focus on creating an immediately engaging interaction that activates people sensuously and emotionally and affectively to contribute to this theme through user-generated content.

This brief was issued by the Media Architecture Biennale in a 24 hr Design Challenge.

Concept

The Cycle Shift is a playful media façade that aims to bring about a positive cultural shift in attitudes towards bike culture in Sydney. by increasing the visibility of bike movements.

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.

Video

Poster

[PDF]

Process

After defining the brief and conducting initial research and moodboarding, we set out our design process with the use of some low-fi-cardsorting.

(The moodboard was done with tumblr and can be found here.)

Following this we grabbed lunch and a few beers, whilst we locked down our problem domain through the definition and discusion of civic themes and challenges, wanting to make sure we addressed a civic challenge specially targeted to our locality. We conducted user interviews, summarised them and evaluated the state of cycling in Sydney, along with it’s action plan. Following this was intensive research, conceptual brainstorming, and synthesis of our idea. Finally we storyboarded, filmed, and wrote up our final concept.

[Our entire process of the 24 hour challenge can be found at its own blog here.]

Team

Mark C Mitchell, Hanley Weng, Emila Yang, Kendrick Khoo

Press

• Digital Entrepreneurs succeed in international competitions
• Young digital entrepreneurs ride to victory
• Official MAB Competition Page

Final Thoughts

This jam enforced my fondness for 24 hr jams even more. It’s always fun collaborating in a team with different methodologies, skills, and goals. No matter what happens in a jam, there’s always something at the end and much that has been learnt.

There were many great groups and awesome concepts in the competition. We were honoured to win this jam and travel scholorship to present our work, which also served as a great excuse to go travel around Europe for a few months celebrating the end of our University of Sydney undergraduate degree.