Raleigh Bike Rack Design Competition Winners
Scroll to the bottom for a full slideshow of all winners and honorable mentions.
Downtown Raleigh is getting some new bicycle racks, thanks to Architecture for Humanity's new Raleigh chapter (motto: Design Like You Give a Damn), who recently held a competition as the chapter's kickoff event. The winners were chosen in August and debuted at the Urban Design Center during SparkCon. The competition, called Raleigh Racks, generally follows suit with designs for Moore Square and City Plaza in helping to create a more kitschy, Disney-like Raleigh. Without any more information from the City or Architecture for Humanity, we're left to guess about the significance or concepts of the winning designs:
Capitol District
In case you're stumbling home towards Oakwood after a long night at the bar, and forget which US state you're in, the State Rack is here to offer a friendly reminder. (Friendly, that is, unless you're tripping over it.)
Moore Square District
Also consisting of literal iconography,"Akorn" (sp?) is... well, it sort of looks like an acorn. And Raleigh is... the City of Oaks. I just got that! (Big props to this student designer for placing in the competition.)
Fayetteville Street District
Glenwood South
This entry for Glenwood South works well not only as a bike rack, but also as an environmental graphic promoting the cycling community. It says "drive less, bike more;" a great message for a heavily automobile-dependent city.
Warehouse/CAM District
The Warehouse District winner is perhaps the strongest design concept in the group. By employing old bicycle frames as adaptive reuse, this design speaks to some of the core values of the cycling community; sustainability, in particular.
The judging criteria put forth consists of: "creativity, functionality, innovation, buildability and embodiment of the spirit of the downtown districts." The jury for the competition included Katherine Hogan, an architectural designer in Raleigh; Grant Meacci, Planning Manager at the City of Raleigh, Kim Curry-Evans, Public Art Coordinator for the Raleigh Arts Commission, and Jordan Ryland, student at NC State.
EDIT: (from competition website) The jury will select five winning designs. In addition to having their design fabricated, the winners will also receive a cash prize of $150, their name listed on the individual rack, and their design displayed during First Friday and SparkCon in September 2011. Honorable mentions and merit awards will be given at the jury’s discretion.
Competition Winners & Image Credits:
Warehouse District: Michael Putman (an architect from California)
Moore Square: Lauren Schaubach (a student in Raleigh)
Glenwood South: Kelly O'Brien with Smith Sinnett Architecture (architects from Raleigh)
Fayetteville Street: Ignacio Ciocchini (an industrial designer from NY)
Capitol: John Williard and Miller Taylor (designers from Raleigh)
Honorable Mention: Michael Parsons (an architect in Chapel Hill)
Honorable Mention: Drew Wilgus (an architect in Apex)
Honorable Mention: Erik Wood and Paul Graham (industrial designers from Chicago)
Honorable Mention: Joshua Aycock (student from Raleigh)
Congratulations to all the winners! Check out a Slideshow of all the winners and honorable mentions below:
Read More
Tagged
Downtown Raleigh Design Moore Square Bicycling Arts
Related
Get Raleigh Updates
-
Citizen B
09/23 11:20 AM
Please tell me we’re not footing the bill for 5 different designs, when 1 would suffice.
-
Nathan
09/23 11:47 AM
The internet would be so much better if people would take 5 sec to look at info instead of 5 sec to complain.
“The jury will select five winning designs. In addition to having their design fabricated, the winners will also receive a cash prize of $150, their name listed on the individual rack, and their design displayed during First Friday and SparkCon in September 2011.
Honorable mentions and merit awards will be given at the jury’s discretion.”
-
kjwike
09/23 11:54 AM
Awesome. Kudos to all the designers! I’m really confused as to why the “Glenwood South” bike rack is shown in the warehouse district? I think this one would look better in the warehouse district vs. Glenwood!
-
hackles10
09/23 11:57 AM
Awesome contest. I really love the simplicity and form of the state rack, that was a fantastic idea. Also like the Glenwood South + the Warehouse District designs. Not too fond of the Fayetteville St. Design, but that is probably just personal taste.
-
Michelle
09/23 11:58 AM
Nathan, you beat me to it. I was just coming back to this ready to post that same paragraph.
Citizen B, by “we” are you referring to the tax payers? This event had sponsors to pay for it. Also, not sure how 5 hand made bike racks of the same design would be any cheaper then 5 of different designs… its not like these are being mass produced.
Bike racks work to reduce/eliminate the need for bikes to be chained to trees and structures, which all cost money to maintain and repair if damaged.
-
Michelle
09/23 11:59 AM
PS- Congrats to the winners! I personally like the simplicity of the state outline one the best!
-
Citizen B
09/23 12:03 PM
I revued this page 5 times and didn’t find anything that states.
“The jury will select five winning designs. In addition to having their design fabricated, the winners will also receive a cash prize of $150, their name listed on the individual rack, and their design displayed during First Friday and SparkCon in September 2011.
Honorable mentions and merit awards will be given at the jury’s discretion.”
Let me restate my “Comment”. How much will this cost the city and would it cost the city less to implement 1 design?
-
Michelle
09/23 12:38 PM
http://www.raleighracks.com/—> CALL FOR ENTRIES—> PRIZES
If you read the article 5 times, you would have seen this: “Downtown Raleigh is getting some new bicycle racks, thanks to Architecture for Humanity”
Let me restate my question from earlier: How would 5 hand made bike racks of the same design be noticeably cheaper then one of those designs made 5 times?
-
Citizen B
09/23 01:15 PM
Because, not only do designer charge for materials and labor, they charge you for design, sketches, renderings, and the time it took to come up with these ideas. Even more, to purchase creative writes to the pieces. I would like to see the BOW for this project.
-
RaleighRob
09/23 01:19 PM
Well there are some fine ones here…I do like them all except maybe the Fay St one (weird). Frankly, I’d kinda just rather have the U-bars instead.
Love that the Warehouse District one uses recycled bike frames…that theme fits the district really well if you think about it! (I just hope they don’t actually paint them unc blue! I propose purple instead.)
Capital District and Moore Square District designs also fit those districts quite well too. I think the state shape would look awesome around the capital, governor’s mansion and such. (Hope that includes the North Person area around Krispy Kreme and PieBird, too.) The Acorn shape looks like it can hold a whole lot of bikes! -
Citizen C
09/23 02:00 PM
I compwain like sum weird Tea Party person about dese racks.
-
m
09/23 02:03 PM
@Citizen B - can you not read? This is a contest. The designers aren’t charging anyone for the designs, they made them on their own dime (kudos to them) and entered them into the contest. And as was stated above, there were sponsors for the event (and entry fees), and Architecture for Humanity is donating the racks to the city. That means there is no cost to taxpayers, and they’re even saved some expense from people putting their bikes in more appropriate locations, as Michelle says. Sounds like everyone wins to me!
-
Brian
09/23 02:16 PM
I really like the rack made of old frames. Great reuse, looks cool, and also seems to hold the most bikes in the smallest area. The acorn is pretty cool, but with only one way for bikes to go in it creates a pretty large footprint when full.
-
Citizen B
09/23 03:01 PM
5 bike racks, 5, really? Then this whole discussion is pointless. I like the state one the best. It’s cute.
-
Jeff S
09/23 09:03 PM
Sadly, several of these were apparently designed by people with no knowledge of bike locking - glenwood south and akorn being the worst.
I like the warehouse rack, but worry that it might be too space-consuming as a sidewalk rack. I applaud the effort, though I just can’t get enthused about the results.
Citizen B… yea, I’d hide behind screen names too if I was displaying your level of ignorance.
-
Charlie
09/25 06:29 PM
I have to say, one rack would have sufficed. Also, a lot of those look kind of inefficient. The Fayetteville street, Glenwood South and State ones could probably hook up no more than two bikes. The acorn one makes more sense but it is SOOOO ugly. The warehouse one makes the most sense by far. Are you sure that these were the best designs?
Lastly, do we really want to have a more “kitschy, Disney-like Raleigh”? Sighhh, oh well.
-
Citizen B
09/25 10:26 PM
No one here is hiding from anything Jeff. Give me one reason how a bike rack will revitalize downtown Raleigh. How will a bike rack stop store owners from getting attacked my knife wielding criminals, prostitutes turning tricks at the bus stop, etc.
-
Citizen B
09/26 08:28 AM
To finalize my argument, I am a citizen of Raleigh and a bike rider. And, I don’t care to see bike racks installed on my streets. Just for a few fixed gear riders to lock up their bikes in front of the Raleigh Times. It’s already difficult enough to walk down the street a lunch time. Because, every restaurant has 8 or 9 tables set up on the side walk.
Thank you,
Citizen B - Your Suburban Hero.
-
Citizen B
09/26 12:39 PM
It’s called growing a spine, and standing up for something, Jeff. Just because I’m in disagreement with something doesn’t make me ignorant. There’s a bike rack right behind Jimmy Johns if you need one. Which is a lot closer than most downtown workers get to park.
-
Michelle
09/26 12:40 PM
“Citizen B” must be in politics….
Make invalid & uninformed argument, get shot down in rebuttal, change subject and make new invalid & uninformed argument, get shot down, change subject and make new invalid & uninformed argument, get shot down….. until eventually everyone else is too bored to continue. You’re winning if everyone else just stops responding, right? -
Dave
09/26 12:59 PM
Just reading all this for the first time in one sitting leaves me with a question for the rest of you who have been playing along since day one: Are multiple people posting under “Citizen B” or does “Citizen B” just have multiple personality disorder?
First its a “NOT ON MY DIME!” cry about tax payer money. Then he/she calls the state one ‘cute’ and calls the discussion pointless. Then a bitch fest about people parking their bikes at Raleigh Times and the sidewalks being crowded (did I miss where one of these were going in at Raleigh Times?)
Oh and I almost left out the BEST line “How will a bike rack stop store owners from getting attacked my knife wielding criminals, prostitutes turning tricks at the bus stop, etc.” ........ LMAO! Does anyone EXPECT them to?
-
Citizen D-
09/26 01:37 PM
Which bus stop has the hookers? I get paid this week.
-
Michelle
09/26 02:19 PM
Comment of the week goes to Citizen D-
-
Mike
09/26 02:39 PM
I for one am enjoying the fact that Citizen B is speaking out. The only thing worse than ITB’ers are the Urban Hipsters.
-
Jeff S
09/26 04:16 PM
Maybe there’s a link between bike racks, hookers, your disdain of fixed gear riders and sidewalk seating that I’m missing… other than the obvious anger you have towards everyone unlike yourself.
It’s sad how such a simple form of transportation can elicit such ire.
-
Jortles Scrozzelle
09/26 04:19 PM
It’s called trolling. I would say Citizen B is bad at it because his/her comments are so easy to blow apart but since the point of trolling is getting the other commenters riled up I’d say they are doing pretty good.
-
Citizen B
09/26 04:29 PM
I don’t have anything against anyone unlike myself. Just bike racks and Jeff S.
Share Your Thoughts
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.