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The work of art/bicycle parking is located at one of the busiest traffic intersections in the city of Aalst. A unique mix of trains, shipping, buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians cross there. Adjacent to this spot is the city’s new Administrative Center with its iconic facade of colored surfaces.
An ambiguous assignment: functional work of art
The assignment was to create a work of art opposite the Administrative Center that could also store bicycles under it. One may question whether a work of art can take on this role. Art and usability basically contradict each other. It made this assignment a risky undertaking but perhaps more interesting for that very reason. The final design strategy consisted in not avoiding the ambiguous character of this project but, on the contrary, reinforcing it:
The artwork consists of a group of seemingly wildly placed bicycle brackets (“staples”) partially covered by overlapping blue surfaces.
The placement of the bicycle brackets reflects the various movements around this spot. From different directions, cyclists can enter the square in front of the Administrative Center and find a bracket in the natural extension of their movement. This logic creates a “wild” composition, a spatial play of galvanized steel tubes. Unlike a classic ‘ordered’ bike rack that offers a desolate sight when empty, it will thereby retain its spatial qualities both with and without bikes. In their simplicity they recall the steel playground equipment of the past as designed, among others, by the Dutch architect Aldo Van Eyk in the 1950s.
The bikes are partially covered by overlapping blue surfaces. T-shaped galvanized steel posts support fifteen roofs like crutches. They each tilt toward the center in their own way and together form one roof. They appear fragile, as if they could also assume a different position together at any moment. The little roofs have different shades of blue. Shades that reflect the color of the sky and contribute to the lightness of the construction. At the same time, this makes it a frivolous counterpart to the Administrative Center with its colored surfaces in shades of white, yellow, light brown and red.
No surface treatment withstands intensive use as well as hot-dip galvanizing. By definition, bicycle railing systems are heavily loaded. It was therefore an obvious choice to hot-dip galvanize both the brackets and the posts of the roofs.
In addition to durability, galvanizing was primarily an aesthetic choice. Zinc is “alive. Depending on exposure, it takes on a different color and sheen. Unlike many other systems, aging actually adds value, the “patina.
In addition, it was also important that the bicycle shed register with its surroundings and enter into dialogue with them. We therefore chose to be inspired by the design of street furniture and traffic signs. For obvious reasons (durability, corrosion resistance), hot-dip galvanized tubes are often used there as well. Even the simple and visible mounting of the roofs with brackets, for example, deliberately refers to the mounting of traffic signs.
