New Found bike Glory: Part 1

6 Months ago I had 2 bikes. I had my 20" Giant BMX, and a newly purchased (craigslist) 1960's Sears Stingray look alike. I bought the Sears bike because I always had a dream of replicating the bike I learned to ride on at my babysitters when I was a kid. It was a blue 20" Schwinn (it had the classic S on the two tone blue/white seat) tornado, I think. The thing is, I haven't been able to find anything similar to anywhere, except for the tornado, but that was black and yellow; this bike was blue and white. Basically, it was like a cruiser bike but a 20 inch and for kids. The idea was to recreate this with some kick; all black with whitewalls and tailpipes. Something tasteful yet mean looking. Not a lowrider, but badass.


Anyways, the Sears bike got stolen about 3 month later, right after I put new tires on it. So I abandoned my dream of renewing my 1st bike and stuck to my Giant BMX. That is, until it was stolen last weekend. So, bikeless, I went up to the Working Bikes Co-op this weekend, which was a blast as always. I looked at some 24" and some touring bikes, but didn't find anything that really struck me. But on the way out, push back in a corner was a box. Inside this box lay, perhaps the most beautiful sight I have ever seen (exaggeration.) What was in this box, you ask? Well none other than every part I had planned to buy for the Sears bike. Black fenders, black chaingaurd, black Schwinn fork, even chrome tailpipes. It was then that I looked up to see, hanging from the ceiling, a Schwinn stingray frame painted flat black. Beautiful.
Now, had this been 2 weeks ago, I woulda said "Wow that's cool but I don't have the money take on a project like this just for fun" and I woulda past that box of parts up. But with both bikes stolen and my dream bi ke sitting in a box in front of me, this was clearly a sign. Somebody wanted me to build this bike, so that's exactly what I set out to do.

Mies Bands...Realized

So I finally placed an order for the bands; 1000 grey silicon wristband sporting the phrase "What Would Mies Do." It was scary. Putting up $1000 not knowing what the outcome would be. Perhaps I'll enlighten you with some questions that ran through my head:

What if the bands are a scam and they just steel my credit card number?
What if the bands are crappy and break easily?
What if nobody likes the ideas?
What if there is a sudden movement to ban bands?
What if they spell everything wrong?

Scary, but they arrived safely and correctly, the color was just a little off but that's rather minor. The fact that they arrived early and individually packaged made up for it. One the bands were in we started planning where to sell and how to sell. I made ads and the Mies Society compiled a list of events where we could sell bands. In addition, I met with the Architecture College Board of Directors to pitch my idea and to see if they would allow me to visit their firms in the fall to sell bands. I think it went well. Our first event, IIT Open House, sold around 100 bands which was nice. I made spreadsheet to track all sales and placement if bands. Rem Koolhaas was given one and wore it on campus, that made my day. To know that a product I developed made it onto the wrist of one of the worlds most famous architects; it's a nice feeling.

Rumina (Room-in-a) Chair

Below I have posted pictures of the finished cardboard product. Apparently there is already a cardboard furniture market. There was a recent article in the newspaper about 2 brothers who started a business making cardboard furniture. Also, I saw some cardboard shelves at the Visitor Center in Chicago's Water Tower Place. These shelves were reinforced with a thin plywood or board which was disappointing. I'll still work on some ideas but I'm going to research a little more to make sure I'm not replicating something already made. While building this chair I noticed some structural instability in the layered cardboard. If it wasn't properly glued, it would fall apart. This can be solved with a better gluing technique. Overall, I'm satisfied with the out come of this chair, it's been a great learning experience.

Mies Ad II

Less is More. The message is simple and bold. The pointilated profile gives an interesting viewpoint, as if Mies is looking at the words. IIt is also inspiring. The idea behind the pointilation is to play off the restoration of Crown Hall. As if to say, When Crown Hall is restored, so will Mies' image. I am currently working on some adds that will incorporate Crown Hall into the ad.

Mies Ad I

This ad I designed to go inside a display that would accompany the Mies Society Bands. I like this ad because it is bold, yet has a sense of humor. It shows Mies as a relaxed figure with a boldness added by the text font. Also, the fact that he is wearing a Mies band kind of plays off the heading. The question is What Would Mies Do? Would he buy a band? The picture answers yes, yes he would, and he would be damn proud of it. The display will most likely be placed in a high traffic convenience shop location. When someone is in line waiting for the a coffee or a bagel, they might look at a sign for 5-10 seconds. So the ad needs to be short, interesting, and to the point. It answers what the product is, where the money goes, and how much it costs. Simply and with interest.