As much as I love flipping through Dwell, impressed by architect’s insights and the hard-earned calluses of real-world craftsmanship, I know absolutely nothing about industrial design. The closest I’ve come is sending off some InDesign files for CD covers and bumper-stickers, always reliant on the provided templates to get the sizing right and to keep the bleed from being too bloody.
The digital realm is so much safer. You can change it up in an instant. Delete the botched bits with a click. But I’m inspired by guys like Izhar Gafni. He’s an amateur cyclist who loves his high-end bikes, but realized there might be something to be said about going as low-tech as possible. So he built a bike out of cardboard — origami engineered and treated to be about as strong as carbon fiber. The best part? His new bike should be on the market about for about ten bucks a pop. Cheaper than the bike lock to keep it safe.
Very few things are greener than a bike, and at this price there’s no reason not to have one. Imagine a fleet of these replacing the din on your street, or moving foot-weary villagers to market and back. I like it.
