A few months ago, Jared and I watched the documentary Objectified (it’s available on Netflix and is so worth it). The movie examines the public’s relationship with manufactured objects, whether it’s a toothbrush, a can opener or an Apple computer, by looking into the objects themselves and the designers behind them. It was amazingly good stuff (I liked it even more than Helvetica; though Jared, a devoted font enthusiast, would probably rate it second), and it made both of us take a long hard look at all the objects we love and use every day. What the movie so seamlessly pointed out was that the relationship between function and design is inextricable. Objects designed under this understanding are the ones that stand the test of time; and the ones that don’t are discarded shortly after their birth. I know, how’s that for depressing first thing Monday morning?
I snapped the above photo in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, outside of Bruges Waffles and Frites (drool). Apparently these bike racks are fairly common in big cities across the country, but we don’t have anything like them in our quaint neck of the woods, so I took a few photos for my bike-riding hubs. I’ll admit my initial need-to-photograph-this impulse was entirely visually driven. I mean, the thing is pretty cute, right? But once I got back home to Columbia and started looking through the photos from my trip, I kept coming back to this image, partly because it’s adorable, sleek and simple. But more so, it’s because this bike rack is a gleaming example of form and function being beautifully intertwined. It is what it does — and I think that’s pretty genius.
To give credit where it’s due, the designer behind the Salt Lake City bike rack (the specific design name is the Cyc Bicrac) is Madrax, a pretty cool company based out of Waunakee, Wisc., that emphasizes creativity and sustainability in its methods, materials and designs. Its website is filled with innovative takes on the ordinary bike rack, many of which leave me thinking, “Why in the world didn’t I think of that?” But isn’t that how so many of the greatest designs are? It’s like the designers look at a pile of materials that are 100 percent function and then pull aesthetic designs from the chaos. And by some miracle that original functionality retains its purity as well. Boggles my mind.
I suppose the moral of the bike rack story is simple: When design and functionality come head to head, it results in some pretty amazing stuff. And it’s always fun to stumble upon those objects for the first time and then revel in their intrinsic loveliness.
So what do you think? Have you happened upon any great new designs as of late? Any objects in your home, neighborhood or city that marry form and function in an inspirational, oh-wow-that’s-amazing kind of way? I’d love to hear about it!
XO,
Katrina