The Bicycle Architecture Biennale is on its second run already, showcasing high-profile building designs that are facilitating bicycle travel and transforming communities around the world by doing so. The Biennale launched in Amsterdam earlier this month before going on a world tour. 15 projects out of 9 countries have been selected this year. The thing that unites them, according to the judges, is the ability to demonstrate how design solutions can go beyond the functional and also lead to healthier lifestyles.
“Cycling is much more than a transportation solution for cities, it is also a powerful force for transformation. Every city or neighbourhood has the potential to become a success story through cycling. With this Biennale, we want to offer the inspiration to make that happen, so we hope many cities will take up the offer to host the BAB on its international tour,” Maud de Vries, the main organizer, said in a statement.
Check out this year’s picks in the gallery below.
Batlle i Roig (Barcelona, Spain) This junction has been a barrier for people walking and cycling for 60 years, but now the new path offers the most direct crossing possible, cutting almost 500 metres off the route. The green pathway is a very pleasant and surprising space, suggestive of country lanes beyond the city limits and major road infrastructures. © BYCS.org BureauVanEig/Biq architecten (Delft, the Netherlands) This bicycle parking is centrally situated at the campus of the TU Delft educational institution and is combined with a bicycle workshop and coffee place. The main challenge in the design was to transform the large bicycle storage into an attractive hangout spot. © BYCS.org Coniglio Ainsworth Architects (Perth, Australia) The Curtin Bike Hub is a key component of Curtin University’s Creative Quarter. The Bike Hub encourages cycling as a convenient and sustainable mode of transport to and from campus. It does this through its key features, which include washing, changing and locker room facilities and a two-tier bicycle stacking system for approximately 200 bicycles. © BYCS.org Dissing+Weitling (Xiamen, China) The City of Xiamen has set out to develop a better bicycle environment and produced a long-term bicycle strategy to get there. Together with the city, Dissing+Weitling developed the concept of establishing an 8-kilometre long bicycle skyway on raised platforms running along and underneath the city’s existing overhead Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) skyway in the central part of the city. The result is China’s first suspended bicycle path and the world’s longest aerial bicycle lane. © BYCS.org Visit Limburg, Lens°Ass Architecten (Limburg, Belgium) The project of Visit Limburg leads cyclists through a path more than 200 metres long and 3 metres wide, with water at eye level on both sides. Since its opening, the interest in this special bike trail has been huge. On average, 700 visitors per day explore this part of the Limburg cycle route network. © BYCS.org Ector Hoogstad Architecten (Utrecht, the Netherlands) Utrecht Central Station, the Netherlands’ busiest public transportation hub, is undergoing radical changes to become a true intermodal transfer terminal, fully mobilising the potential synergy between bicycle use and public transport. Users can cycle all the way to (electronically indicated) available slots. Additional facilities such as a cycle repair shop and a bike rental service help meet every need of the users. © BYCS.org BuroLandschap (Limburg, Belgium) This iconic construction is nearly 700 metres long. You can cycle or walk through a different scene every season. You discover the sounds and scents of the Pijnven forest whilst biking to a height of up to 10 metres. This exceptional landmark, with a diameter of 100 metres, offers a sensational yet safe cycling experience for the young and old. © BYCS.org Monk Mackenzie, LandLAB, GHD (Auckland, New Zealand) This project saw a redundant piece of highway infrastructure reused and reinvented as a cycleway, to complete Auckland’s inner city cycle loop. The 600-metre off-ramp is painted a bright resolute pink to signal an urban realm for pedestrians and cyclists that is differentiated from the surrounding active highway network. © BYCS.org Schneider+Schumacher (Raunheim, Germany) The new white Ölhafen Bridge is an elegant, curved structure. It spans the 70-metre-wide entrance to the oil terminal harbour in Raunheim with a spiralling access ramp. The objective was to emphasize the bridge’s leisure use and, above all, to provide unobstructed river views, despite all the safety issues. © BYCS.org Nooyoon (New York, USA) The Queensway is one of New York’s abandoned railways and can be found – as the name suggests – in Queens. The project “Upside Down Bridge” proposes an overturned bridge to be used to connect spaces on the ground level and above. Although a linear structure, the bridge will be a catalyst for tying disconnected urban areas together. © BYCS.org COBE and Gottlieb Paludan Architects, Sweco (Copenhagen, Denmark) Nørreport Station is the busiest station in Denmark. It is composed of a series of rounded, floating roofs, mounted on striking glass pavilions. Ample bike parking space is the main feature, accommodating 2,500 slots. In order to create a clear hierarchy between the area for bicycles and the area for city life, all bicycle parking spaces have been placed 40 centimetres below the city floor. © BYCS.org SPADE (Cologne, Germany) The RheinRing is located between two major bridges, the Hohenzollernbrücke and the Deutzer Brücke, at the Rhine Carée – one of the most significant public urban spaces of Cologne. It represents the new downtown as well as the link between the two halves of the inner city. © BYCS.org Paper planes e.V. (Berlin, Germany) Radbahn converts the currently mainly neglected space along and under the iconic elevated underground line U1 in the heart of Berlin into a 9-km shelter for a separated and mostly covered bike path. © BYCS.org NL Architects (The Hague, The Netherlands) The Hague Central Station is currently undergoing a major change as it is turned into a modern hub. This transformation sparked the idea from NL Architects that the station’s bike parking could be inserted into the hall as well. Elevated plates that organize the bike parking in strips make an efficient but also striking layout. The elevation of bike parking enables a lot of daylight to get in and creates a spectacular welcoming experience. © BYCS.org NEXT Architects (Purmerend, The Netherlands) The Melkwegbridge works as a connector between the old and the new centre. Its unique form derives from the functional approach to separating the routing for pedestrians and bikes crossing the water. Pedestrians are given the opportunity to maintain the direct line of the historic Melkweg (Milkroad) within the bridge, arching over the water at 12 metres high and creating an incredible view over the city. The 100-metre-long bicycle deck under the arch stays low to make way for an accessible slope for bicycles and wheelchairs. © BYCS.org
