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Bicycle Architecture Biennale in Amsterdam Is Showing Us the Future

By Monica Buck

Where else should the first ever showcase of environmental solutions built around cycling be held than in the Dutch capital? The bicycle architecture biennale celebrates a new wave of architecture corresponding with the revival of bicycle transport. Roads used to be engineered to accommodate cars, and buildings to receive them, but the event starting today in Amsterdam shows us a different path.

Medibank / HASSELL

“In recent years we have witnessed a profound change in attitude among architects toward bikes. Bikes used to be lower than horses in architects’ eyes. Facilities for them always seemed built on the cheap, as though they would only be torn down when all the cyclists could afford cars. This exhibition celebrates buildings that roll out a red carpet for bikes. They show bicycle planning doesn’t stop at the curb side, the desires of cyclists are going to start shaping the design of new buildings,” Steven Fleming, the curator, said.

SkyCycle / Foster + Partners

The event is organized by a cycling innovation agency CycleSpace and is supposed to celebrate the cutting edge and high-profile building designs that are facilitating bicycle travel, storage, and safety all around the world. It’s part of the annual Velo-City event, which is the biggest cycling-focused conference in the world. The work of 14 international designers will be exhibited in Amsterdam’s Zuiveringshal, including The West Village Basis Yard apartment complex, where cyclists can ride from their tenth-floor apartments all the way down to the ground.

West Village Basis Yard / Jiakun Architects

Visit the biennale’s website and velo-city2017.com for more information!