A bamboo bicycle is an exploration in utility, economy, efficiency, durability, mobility, and craft. A cargo bike designed for rural Nepalese farmers will be an expression of local culture, resources, and environmental awareness. This studio will require an understanding of bicycle design, but also an understanding of the needs of rural smallholder farmers, ergonomics, bamboo craft techniques, and possible applications of e-bike technologies.

I want students to design, build, and test an affordable, adaptable, sustainable cargo bike that can be used to transport goods over rough rural roads, but configured differently, might be used by a suburban shopper to carry groceries. This studio will emphasize rapid prototyping techniques to quickly prototype and test insights discovered in research and concept generation.

In poor rural communities all over the world, people only have one choice in transportation- walking. Increased mobility improves access to markets, schools, and public services. Access to a bicycle can create jobs and improve healthcare. In this studio we will design, build, and test affordable, sustainable bamboo cargo bike concepts. It is anticipated that successful designs will likely incorporate innovative electric assist concepts and user focused documentation.

This is an industrial design studio with a practical research dimension that will be undertaken collaboratively between industrial design and communication design students. Communication design students wanting to undertake it will be required to enrol into GRAP1035 and will need to undertake a workshop induction. Initial concepts will be sketched, followed by rapid prototypes fabricated to test and develop ideas. Computer models will be required to validate and verify design specifics. Final concepts will be presented as working prototypes with documentation to support local user repair, manufacture and modification.

Bicycling Science (The MIT Press) Paperback – March 19, 2004 by David Gordon Wilson

Designing Experiences, Designing for Social Change, Designing Identity, Designing through Image, Designing Publications, Designing Disobedience