The Lund Bike Workshop was an experiment to prove the old saying, talk is cheap, and a hand brazed steel frame is solid gold. During a weeklong design sprint (March 10-14, 2014), three teams set out to express the “bike life in Lund”. A couple of days in, use cases, aspirational mindsets and design drivers were being brazed together in steel tubing.

In an era where rapid prototyping and 3D modeling software makes it possible to go from idea to product without getting your hands dirty, it’s easy to loose touch with the real world. The world where wood has grain, ceramics has shrinkage and steel tube is cold and hard, very hard. It’s only by getting to know a material that you can recognize its full potential, learning to work with its properties and not against them. The knowledge of a designer should reside in hand and mind alike.

In other words: get your hands dirty or go home.

The university town of Lund, and its surroundings in southern Sweden, has unique character and a vibrant atmosphere that is constantly evolving but never losing its essence, and bicycling is at the core of the Lund lifestyle. We all poured our experiences in to the design process to come up with three specific use cases that celebrates different perspectives of bike riding in the region. We have all been there - the intercity commuting, grocery shopping and the days when we are just enjoying the ride.

The result is three bikes that each represent a way of moving around in the Lund-Malmö region.

The workshop was a student initiative and brought together professional designers with students (both BA and MA) and craftsmen to efficiently be able to move from concepts to functioning bicycles. Martin Meier and Andrea Cevenini from IDEO Munich were integral to the design processes and without their help and support this workshop would still be an idea on a piece of paper in a box somewhere. Mark Zeh spoiled us with his extended knowledge of frame geometry and years of experience as a professional frame builder. Without Mark the bikes would have stayed in our workshop looking all crooked instead of being here on show in Milan as shiny and tangible proof of what happens if you do things instead of talking about them. During the design phase a lot of inspiration was drawn from the heritage of Monark & Crescent, two Swedish bicycle brands that have helped shape Sweden into a pedaling nation. When it came to fitting the frames with components, it felt natural to contact Cycleurope (that today owns and cares for these brands). Since we had something to show beyond a concept and renderings, we managed to spark passion from their side. We are grateful for their support, helping us with components and sharing their wisdom. Making speaks louder than words.

/Students of the Lund Bike Workshop

Project:
Lund University
School of Industrial Design
www.industrialdesign.lth.se

Students:
Simon Helmersson, Filip von Hauswolff, Olof Jansson, Yuehan Liu, Emilia Borgvall, Philipp Süssman, Martin Gschwandtl, Oskar Lundgren, Axel Bluhme, Emilia Iona Bancos, Martina Zbinden, Kristin Løberg, Oskar Eriksson, Linus Hagberg, Gustav Max Lindholm & Karl Jönsson.

Use case, design and brand guidance:
Martin Meier & Andrea Cevenini (IDEO Germany)

Design translation and build guidance:
Mark Zeh

Component sponsor:
Cycleurope

Student contact:
Karl Jönsson