The exhibition takes place during Bike Week in the Civic Offices Atrium, Wood Quay, from 14-18 June 2010. Do you find it normal that in the middle of a snow storm a lady rides home with her groceries and a baby on her bike. Or could you picture yourself racing beside two lanes of cyclists to work? What about taking your cello or even a Christmas tree with a trike from A to B? Danes do… that is what makes Denmark so special: being liberated from the gloomy prospect of having to choose a form of motorised transport for lack of a better option… Danes enjoy this freedom to the full and have been doing so since the 1960s, when they revived their cycling culture after a period of car domination in the post-war era.

Fashion on Wheels at Dublin City Hall

In collaboration with the Dreams on Wheels photographer and cycling culture blogger per excellence, Mikael Colville-Andersen and Copenhagen Cycle Chic, the worlds first fashion show on two wheels was staged. DUBLIN CYCLE CHIC was showcasing both Danish fashion and product design at the prominent location of Dublin City Hall.

Dublin Cycle Chic was framed by platform of Dreams on Wheels -the exhibition that shows what the Danes have done, what their concept of lifestyle is and how this type of “slow living” integrates efficiency with environmentalism so naturally. First shown in Paris in 2002, this exhibit has traveled the world promoting urban cycling as a viable personal transportation alternative. It provides examples of Urban Planning strategies, designer bicycles that fit your needs, and hint at the philosophy behind making it possible for everyone to partake in the sport of commuting without harming our blue planet.

Full details at Dublin City Cycling Blog, press release from 10 June 2010.

The bicycle in our climate change era could be regarded as a Trojan Horse for Sustainability. In other words, it can insidiously infiltrate people’s subconscious ambition to become climate-friendly. When inhabitants adopt bike culture, knowingly or unknowingly, the city and urban spaces become more sustainable in terms of transportation, but even more so in terms of quality of life and lifestyle.

Dreams on Wheels is an alternative advocacy exhibit to build a platform for constructive and open debate about the possible changes cities can undergo when having a cyclocentric urban design strategy. Alternative advocacy is usually a civic act entailing a certain amount of lobbying, whether aggressive or subtle, or at least that is how it is often perceived. At Etikstudio, we believe that exhibits or other creative formats can provide an alternative route to change by setting up an informal debate structure between experts and non-experts and enabling word of mouth to be an advocate for change.  

Jan Gehl, Jean Michel Charbonneau, Troels Andersen, Jens Nielsen, Klaus Bondam, Jens Rørbaek, Lars Gemzøe, Lars Bo Andersen, COWI… a list of VIPs that have been the architects behind the transformation of Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus. They see the bicycle as much more than a leisure device, and rather as the ultimate commuter vehicle. That is, if the infrastructure, education, tradition and vision align to make a strong and motivating cycling culture.

The most striking feature about cycling is not only how you can use it for a fast commute and building healthier lifestyles in dense urban spaces, but how every city that has such a focus naturally becomes environmentally sounder. Imagine if more cities, both large and small, managed this transformation rather than investing heavily in public transportation in the first instance. Using a bike is such a civilized and stylish way of becoming an environmentalist.

This is not to say we do not need cars, or that we should stop aiming to design more efficient ones which use hydrogen or recyclable fuel cells. Nor should we dismiss public transportation strategies that are an absolute necessity when building a homogeneous mobility network with a long-term perspective. On the contrary, the bicycle is a tool to balance those other policies rather than an add-on. Sustainability is a direct benefit and quality of life improves dramatically through increased socialisation and the slowing down of the pace of the city.

read more